Buhari Approved N640 Billion oil Contracts From His Sick Bed in London - NNPC Boss Baru

Buhari Approved N640 Billion oil Contracts From His Sick Bed in London -  NNPC Boss Baru

           Buhari

It has been revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari was granting approvals for oil deals to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation during the time he was on his sick bed in London – and when he had relinquished presidential powers to his Vice President – Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, has indicated.

Mr. Baru said Mr. Buhari approved at least two separate oil contracts on July 10 and July 31 worth $1 billion and $780 million, respectively.

The N640.8 billion contracts (at N360/$ exchange rate) were approved when Mr. Buhari was receiving treatment for undisclosed ailments in London, and when he was not supposed to be exercising presidential powers, having named Vice President Yemi Osinbajo acting president in a formal correspondence to the National Assembly.

THE CONTRACTS

Mr. Baru revealed that Mr. Buhari had been exercising presidential powers by granting approvals for NNPC joint venture contracts when he was supposedly on his sickbed and not exercising presidential powers.

Mr. Baru gave details of the contracts as follows:

S/N		PROJECT	Amount (US$mn)		APPROVALS				LOAN EXECUTED BY
S/N	PROJECT			Amount (US$mn)		APPROVALS				LOAN EXECUTED BY
						NTB		PRESIDENTIAL
1.	NNPC/CNL JV Project Cheetah			1200		16/04/15		01/09/15		Dr. E. I. Kachikwu
2.	NNPC/CNL JV Project Falcon			780		26/04/17		31/07/17		Dr. M. K. Baru
3.	NNPC/SPDC JV Project Santolina			1000		26/04/17		10/07/17		Dr. M. K. Baru
	TOTAL			2980

Showing 1 to 5 of 5 entries

The disclosures were made when the NNPC responded – on behalf of Mr. Baru – to the allegations of contract fraud and insubordination raised by Ibe Kachikwu.

Mr. Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, had in an August 30 memo to Mr. Buhari said Mr. Baru unilaterally approved contracts without recourse to him or the NNPC board, amongst other concerns. The memo surfaced on social media on October 3, sending ripples through the country’s polity.

On October 9, the NNPC responded to Mr. Kachikwu’s allegations by publishing the above contract details, which it said was at the instance of Mr. Buhari, who had kept mum since the scandal broke.

But a look at the dates of the three contracts shows that two of them received presidential approval on dates Mr. Buhari was not in the country, July 31 for the second contract with Chevron Nigeria and July 10 for the contract with Shell. Mr. Baru’s name was placed against the contracts as the person who administered the contract in his capacity as the Group Managing Director of the NNPC.

Only the September 1, 2015, contract which Mr. Kachikwu oversaw during his tenure as the GMD of NNPC received presidential approval on a date Mr. Buhari was in the country and wielding presidential powers.

A compilation of Mr. Buhari’s travels reveals that he was in the country from early August 2015

GETTING OSINBAJO’S CONSENT

In his memo to Mr. Buhari, Mr. Kachikwu stated that when Mr. Buhari was unwell in London for several months between May and August, Mr. Baru tried to get direct approval from Acting President Osinbajo for some personnel changes at the NNPC.

But Mr. Osinbajo asked Mr. Baru to go back to Mr. Kachikwu and get his input and approval first before making the changes. Mr. Baru refused to consult Mr. Kachikwu on that.

For weeks, the changes were not made, until Mr. Buhari returned on August 19. By August 29, Mr. Baru announced the changes.

This prompted Mr. Kachikwu’s letter to the president on August 30, complaining that he learnt of the development in the media.

Sources at the presidency corroborated Mr. Kachikwu’s claim that Mr. Osinbajo rebuffed Mr. Baru’s attempts to get presidential approval behind Mr. Kachikwu.

Neither the vice president’s office nor Mr. Baru also denied that claim by Mr. Kachikwu.

It is not immediately clear if Mr. Baru also attempted to get approval for the multi-billion dollar contracts from Mr. Osinbajo. But presidency sources said it was unlikely that Mr. Osinbajo, who did not allow Mr. Baru to make personnel changes, would allow the NNPC GMD to circumvent Mr. Kachikwu with such high-profile contracts.

Ndu Ughamadu, spokesperson for the NNPC, would not confirm or deny if Mr. Baru got the approval from Mr. Buhari in London.

On May 19, when NNPC sources told Daily Trust and a few other media houses that it had finally entered into a $6 billion deal with 10 companies for 2017-2018 edition of DSDP contracts, Mr. Buhari was also not in the country.‎ The NNPC spokesperson declined comments about DSDP contracts.