By Olusegun Olanrewaju
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) has been accused of a lack of regard for accountability, particularly about the disclosure of its dealings with the public and the way it operates.
This was the summary of the position of a civil society group, Media Advocacy for West Africa, Divine Era Development and Social Rights, as well as Falana Chambers, under the Disclose the Deal Nigerian Project.
The groups and organisations said they concluded after asking the giant national oil company questions based on the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
According to them, in a request, the NNPCL was asked ”to provide us with the information below regarding a contract awarded to Macready Oil & Gas Service Company Limited, for the maintenance of Warri-Kaduna Crude Oil Pipeline (604km), Kaduna-Kano Products Pipeline (224.3km), Kaduna-Jos Products Pipeline (166.4km), Kaduna-Suleja Products Pipeline (170.8km), Kaduna Depot, Kano Depot, Jos Depot and Suleja Depot.”
The company, the groups added, was also asked to release information on the ”exact amount the contract is worth, and the timeframe for the project to be completed”.
NNPCL, it was further gathered was asked to furnish the organisations with the report of procurement/tender bid leading to the selection of Macready Oil & Gas Service Company Limited for the contract award; how much had been released for the project, and the payments made to the company in question regarding the project execution?
”In NNPCL’s response to the FOI request, through its lawyers dated January 22nd, 2024, it says under the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, it is no longer a public institution, but a private company, and has since ceased to be an agency of government. Hence, no longer under any obligation to respond to FOI requests,” the groups stated.
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According to them the NNPCL ”further pointed out that it cannot answer questions about its financial transaction dealings regarding contract awards because it is not a financial institution.
”Efforts by MAWA-Foundation to speak to Macready Oil and Gas Service Company Limited were unsuccessful.
”The company’s telephone contact numbers aren’t going through, and an email sent got no response.”
The groups wondered whether the tendency of non-disclosure and lack of transparency in the NNPC has continued, ”even as Nigeria in 2003 signed up to the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI).
”And, by doing so, Nigeria commits to disclose information along the extractive industry value chain – from how extraction rights are awarded, to how natural resources revenues are managed by the government for the benefit of the public.
”Worse still, the Nigerian state, in her determination to promote transparency and accountability in the management of her oil, gas, and mining revenues, passed the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI Act 2007) in line with the global EITI standards.
”Despite Nigeria’s efforts to promote transparency in the oil and gas sector, revelations in the way NNPCL carries out its operation with disregard for transparency and disclosure show Nigeria is not on its part to achieve transparency and disclosure in the oil and gas deals.”
The coalition organisations noted that ”Although the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 is legislation targeted at addressing the lack of transparency in Nigeria’s extractive industry, NNPCL has disagreed with it.
”And has since interpreted the Act to suit its practice of non-disclosure and lack of accountability.”
Saying this issue represents a challenge facing Nigeria’s extractive industry, the groups said ”With the NNPCL believing that the Petroleum Industry Act does not mandate it to be accountable to the public, the lack of transparency in the extractive industry is likely to be on the increase.
”Interventions to achieve transparency in Nigeria’s extractive industry will be a tall order. This is mainly because it will need a judicial pronouncement to get the NNPCL to comply with the FOI Act as mandated by the legislation.’
They noted that, unfortunately, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), the media, researchers, and private citizens who are at the forefront of demanding accountability from the NNPCL in the way it carries out its operations, do not have the financial requirement to take NNPCL through the rigorous Nigerian judicial process, “because of its capital-intensive nature.”
They stated further, “NNPCL has a long history of not complying with disclosure and transparency. Its practice of engaging in bad procurement processes abuse and contract scams shows how opaque the agency operates.
“For instance, the House of Representatives in 2015 probed the NNPCL over a crude oil swap deal scam awarded to the Sahara Group, Aiteco, Duke Oil, Mercuria, Glencore, Taleveras Nig. Ltd., Eterna Oil and Gas, Tranfigura, a Swiss firm, and Ontario Oil and Gas.
“Mr. Chima Williams, a lawyer who has spent decades working in Nigeria’s extractive sector and the 2022 Winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa spoke to MAWA-Foundation.
“Williams, in his conversation with an official of MAWA, pointed out that the NNPLC is obligated by the law to respond to FOI requests.
“According to him, NNPCL is a government company that does not belong to individuals, therefore, its claim that it is no longer a government company under the Petroleum Industry Act is not true, and cannot be allowed to stand.
“Mr Williams challenged the NNPCL to tell Nigerians who are the shareholders if they claim the company is now private.
“And so long as NNPCL does not have shareholders, it belongs to the government, and that is why it speaks on behalf of the government. And also manages the country’s oil and gas for the government.
“Williams added that the Petroleum Industry Act and the FOI Act are two principal legislations that guarantee transparency, accountability, and openness in the way NNPCL carries out its operation.
“And wonders why the NNPCL will say it is exempted from the FOI Act, hiding under the cover of a private company. That is a deliberate misinterpretation of the law to deceive the public.
“With the combination of FOI Act and Petroleum Industry Act, NNPCL has a responsibility to disclose to Nigerians information sought regarding how it carries out its operations as a government arm in the oil and gas industry operations.”
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Meanwhile, the MAWA Foundation has alleged that the NNPCL Oil Pipeline Project has been abandoned.
It said its visit to the Kaduna-Kano Oil Pipeline project site showed that Macready Oil and Gas Service Company Limited had since abandoned it at the Rigar Duka community in the Kura Local Government Area of Kano State.
The Foundation said the community residents who spoke to it regarding the project, said work had since stopped on the site
“They also narrated how the abandoned pits are causing flooding and destroying their farms; a situation they appealed to the government to get the contractors back to the site and complete the project.
“During a visit to the proposed gas industrial layout (Kano Depot) at Tamburawa, adjacent to Challawa Water Works in the Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area along Zaria Road, awarded to Macready Oil & Gas Service Company Limited by the NNPCL, we found that it has not commenced.
“This is even as the Kano State government declared the location for the project. Although Nigeria has since 2003 signed up to EITI and in 2007 enacted the NEITI Act to promote accountability in the extractive industry, the country has yet to make any notable efforts in ensuring disclosure and transparency in its extractive dealings.
“NNPCL, the country’s company that manages its oil and gas revenue, does not pretend in its refusal to allow disclosure and transparency.
“For instance, in 2018, NNPCL refused to comply with an FOI request by Femi Falana to disclose how much it earned and how it was remitted into the federation account under Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, former Nigerian president’s administration.”
