By: Mercy Peter
A Civil Society Organisation, has knocked the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for re-awarding the oil and gas metering contract.
The Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER), said the re-award of the contract blatantly undermines Nigeria’s national interest and reeks of high-level corruption.
CASER also urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene by stopping the implementation of the already existing contract in the spirit of transparency and justice for the Nigerian people.
The past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was reported to have awarded the contract to a Consortium led by Antasser Nigeria Ltd, a global leader in cargo monitoring.
However, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobri, recently announced that contracts for the engineering audit of upstream measurement equipment and facilities in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Upstream has been awarded to PE Energy Limited, for the sum of $21 million (US Dollars), while another contract for the procurement of pre-field development studies for advanced declaration solution Technology (international Cargo Tracking Note) for the Nigerian Oil and Gas Upstream Sector was awarded to P-Lyne Energy Limited for an undisclosed amount.
The group in a statement signed by Frank Tietie, Director Advocacy Centre, CASER,
The CSO also called for the implementation of the international Cargo Tracking.
The statement reads in part: “In the spirit of transparency and justice for the Nigerian people, CASER is calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to call to order, all the relevant authorities, including the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum and the chief executive officer (CEO) of the NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, to immediately stop the unnecessary and unjust duplication of award of the oil and gas metering and cargo monitoring contract to PE Energy Ltd and P-Lyne Energy Ltd, and instead liase with its fellow government agency (The Nigerian Shippers Council) to implement the already existing contract.
“Therefore, we urge the President to hold to account and sanction all those officials involved in this clear case of corrupt contract maneuvering and ensure that the proper thing is done immediately.”
The group also said it has initiated a freedom of information (FOI) request in order to find out about the contract details and when it was advertised; Information about the companies that submitted bids; Details about the winning bidder; including the bidding process used and the reason for their selection; Evidence that this process went through all the required agencies for such a contract; and the ultimate beneficiaries of the contract.
Tietie also stressed that “CASER has strongly advocated for the implementation of the International Cargo Tracking Note (Advance Cargo Declaration) and have in the past, had course to pursue legal action which stalled an earlier attempted breach of the Public Procurement Act.
“This measure is crucial to ensure accurate revenues from exports and imports, particularly crude oil exports and petroleum imports, prevent the influx of illegal arms and weapons together with other contrabands, and collate accurate trade statistics for vital National planning purposes.
“Essentially, the above two recent contracts form part of services to be rendered free of charge to the Federal Government in a different contract which has already been awarded to a Consortium led by Antasser Nigeria Ltd, and the services to be provided by these recent awards are a clear duplication of services that are actually meant to be at a total zero cost to the Federal Government of Nigeria under the implementation of the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN).
“It is important to question why the Nigerian Shippers Council and the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy have not activated the existing contract with the Antasser-led consortium, instead they have allowed for a duplication of the same contract by another agency of the same government.
“This duplication seems to either be motivated by corruption and the self-enrichment of certain individuals in positions of power or the refusal of a cabal benefiting from the status quo.
“The conclusion is easily reached due to the speed and lack of transparency in the processes that led to the recent announcement of the appointment of PE Energy Ltd and P-Lyne Energy Ltd to execute a part of an already awarded contract. These processes defy all public procurement standards, raising more questions than answers at a critical time when our nation is battling with serious economic and security issues.
“This highlights another important reason why the current operations of the Nigerian oil and gas sector need to be carefully scrutinized and completely overhauled, especially in light of the recent crisis involving the NNPC, Mid and Downstream regulatory commission, and the Dangote Refinery.”
