BLOOMBERG: Nigerian Minister Questions $24 Billion Oil Deals

  • Oil minister says that NNPC head flouted due process
  • Emmanuel Kachikwu comments in letter to President Buhari

Nigeria’s oil minister sent a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari listing at least $24 billion of contracts involving the state oil company that he said were never discussed with him or the firm’s board, a copy of the document seen by Bloomberg shows.

Emmanuel Kachikwu, the state minister for petroleum resources, complained in the seven-page, Aug. 30 letter to Buhari that during the more than one-year tenure of Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. Group Managing Director Maikanti Baru, no contracts had been submitted to the board for approval despite a legal requirement that “all contracts above $20 million would need to be reviewed and approved by the board of the NNPC.”

“The communication under reference is a normal procedural correspondence by the minister to the president relating to developments in parastatals under his supervision,” the oil ministry said in an emailed statement, without giving any further information. A spokesman at the NNPC did not immediately respond to calls and a text message seeking comment. Two spokesmen at the presidency were not available for comment. Read full in Bloomberg