Ifeanyi Ubah accuses NNPC of diversion of products

The chairman of Capital Oil and Gas Ltd,   Ifeanyi  Uba  has accused  the Nigeria National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC) of diverting his company’s products thereby  causing a break in the chain of production of the organization with the resultant losses  of huge revenue.

Testifying at the public Hearing organized by  the House of Representatives committee on   Petroleum Resources Downstream on Thursday, Uba  also alleged that while  the NNPC owned Capital Oil  the  sum of N16 billion,  it turned around and accused them of been indebted to the  cooperation to the tune of  N11 billion.

The House committee headed by  Mr. Akinlaja Iranola (PDP, Ondo) is investigating the alleged disappearance of 8 million litres of petroleum products belonging to NNPC that was stored in the facility of Capital Oil in Lagos.

Making his presentation, Uba said his company is not denying having  NNPC products in its stock  but accused the corporation of failing to conduct a reconciliation exercise  with the management of his company before making allegations of theft public.

He explained that the contract his firm had with the NNPC did not cover any clause for the payment for products in its farm in cash in the event the NNPC needs its products but rather provides for a two week notice for Capital Oil to be informed to replace the volume of products to meet any shortfall.

According to him, the NNPC blew the whole issue out of context and without full information. “NNPC for example claimed we owe N11billion but failed to reveal that they owe us N16 billion with a key portion of the debt spanning over two years,”

Uba explained that Capital Oil usually approach issues with NNPC with a high sense of patriotism citing the example of  distribution of products during periods of scarcity that could disrupt the nation’s economic, social and political equilibrium “on so many occasions we have loaned millions of liters of petroleum products from our storage to the NNPC group without alerting or alarming the public.”

Speaking further, Uba expressed shock that rather than commending Capital Oil  for providing strategic and excellent services to NNPC for the past nine years, the corporation resorted to castigation by throwing the issue to the public and calling in law enforcement agencies without fully exploring the available dispute resolution mechanism available within the purview of the contractual relationship.

Noting that the prolonged crises between Capital Oil and the NNPC has stalled operations and also led to loss of gainful employment of over 2000 workers since the company was shut down, he prayed the committee to intervene in the matter in order to save the loss of more jobs as the situation drags.

Making presentation earlier, the  acting Managing Director NNPC Retail, Ibrahim Dansule confirmed to the House committee that the total shortfall of petroleum products diverted by Capital Oil was 82million metric litres amounting to N11.144billion out of which the sum of N2billion part payment had been made .

He also revealed that negotiations are on going to determine the actual value of the diverted product and the interest to be paid by Capital Oil.