Reps Agree To Probe Napims Over Award Of $260m Contract

BEVERLY HILLS, February 24, (THEWILL) –  House of Representatives have agreed to probe the alleged $260 million contract awarded by the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The resolution was passed following the adoption of a motion titled 'Need to investigate NAPIMS alleged illegal award of $260 million contract' sponsored by Babatunde Kolawole (PDP-Ondo).

Yakubu Dogara, Speaker, then mandated the joint Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) and Public Procurement to investigate the allegation on the contract and report back to the House within four weeks .

In his motion, Kolawole expressed concern over the profligate use of the nation’s resources, positing that the contract was implemented in flagrant violation of due process and without approval from both the NNPC's board and NNPC Group Executive Committee (GEC), as required.

“There is the need to investigate the report of an alleged $260 million contract given by the NAPIMS, a subsidiary of the NNPC in fragrant violation of due process and without approval from both the NNPC's board and the Corporation's Group Executive Committee (GEC), as required,” he said.

“NAPIMS allegedly fraudulently granted approval for ESSO Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, to award four single source contracts for projects in ExxonMobil’s Usan Deepwater Project, at a total value of $260 million without any form of tendering process.”

According to Kolawole, NAPIMS through three memos, dated October 13, 2014; February 10, 2015, and April 16, 2015, unilaterally nominated four companies to execute the contracts.

“This shallow excuse is not sufficient excuse to fritter away $260 million, at a time when the nation is seeking ways to fund the 2016 budget and to weed out unnecessary expenses from the annual appropriation.”

Story by David Oputah