Nigerian Petroleum Company Under Fire: CSO Demands Transparency in NNPC Limited, OANDO PLC Deal
By Aluta News
November 13, 2024
A Civil Society Organization (CSO) is taking the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to task, demanding full disclosure of its partnership and acquisition agreement with OANDO PLC. This move comes after NNPC acquired OVH Energy Marketing, owner and operator of Oando downstream assets, for $325.09 million (N140.559 billion
The Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, is set to hear a suit involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) and seeking to compel the corporation to disclose details of its agreement of partnership and acquisition between NNPC Limited and the Oando Plc.
In the suit, No: FHC/B/CS/172/2022, seen by this media on Wednesday, the Registered Trustees of the Citizens Awareness against Corruption and Social Vices Initiative (CASCASVI) are the plaintiff while the NNPCL is the defendant.
The suit is to apply for judicial review against the NNPCL over its alleged failure to disclose public information to the applicant as requested.
The anti-corruption organisation which is the applicant on the 22nd day of November 2022, had sent an FOI request to the NNPCL seeking to know under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act the agreement of partnership and acquisition between NNPC Limited and OANDO PLC.
Aluta News had reported that the NNPCL in August claimed that its acquisition of OVH Energy Marketing Limited was based on investment and commercial viability.
It had been reported that the NNPC Retail, the downstream arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, has ceased to exist after a court-approved transfer of its ownership and assets to OVH Energy Marketing Limited, a company it claimed to have acquired.
The court ruling had effectively dissolved NNPC Retail, the primary importer of petrol in Nigeria, and transfers its ownership and operations to OVH Energy Marketing Limited, which now assumes full control of the entity.
Atiku Abubakar, a former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said that Nigerians’ future had been mortgaged to what he described as “the government of Tinubu, by Tinubu and for Tinubu.”
Meanwhile, the applicant and anti-corruption group had sent an FOI request to the NNPCL through the counsel to NNPCL, Mr. Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, who then claimed that the information sought is trade secrets and also that NNPCL is a private company whose records are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2011.
The Originating Summons, “Reliefs sought; 1.DECLARATION that the failure of the Respondent to release certified true copies of requested information to the Applicant is illegal, unlawful, oppressive and vexatious
“2. AN ORDER that the respondent release the information set out in Exhibit “A” to the Applicant forthwith. 3. AN AWARD of Five Hundred Thousand Naira as general damages and or exemplary damages/ compensation for the unlawful denial of information required by the applicant
“1. GROUNDS ON WHICH THE RELIEFS ARE SOUGHT. a. The Applicant has sent a request for information as stated in “Exhibit A” Freedom of Information Request”. b. The information sought for is permitted to be disclosed by law. c. The Respondent has refused to make this information public d. That the right of the applicant has been infringed upon.
“REGISTRAR/JUDGE – This summons was taken out by PRESIDENT AIGBOKHAN, Esq of FOI Counsel, 4 Ikpokpan Street off, Sapele Road, Benin City, Edo State, on behalf of the named Applicant. The Respondent may appear hereto by entering appearance personally or by a legal practitioner either by handling in the appropriate form duly completed at the Registry of the Federal High Court, Benin City or by sending them to the office by post.
“NOTE: If the Respondent does not enter appearance within the time and at the place mentioned above such orders will be made and proceedings may be taken as the judge may think just and expedient.
” The CSO’s lawsuit seeks to compel NNPC to reveal details of its agreements, promoting transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. With the NNPC’s growing presence in the downstream market, stakeholders are eager to understand the implications of this deal.