That the NNPC funded elections with $1.2m bribes from oil trader is “not true, and I think that is obvious if you read the story with an open mind,” Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Mr Garba-Deen Muhammad, however, has declared.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has debunked the allegation that it funded the 2015 and 2019 elections with $1.2 million bribes from oil traders.
Platforms Africa reports that the two elections were conducted and contested by then incumbent Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari was declared winner in the two elections.
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Jonathan Zarembok, who left BP’s West Africa desk last year, was quoted as saying in the suit that he suspected that fees paid by the United Kingdom energy giant to obtain NNPC contracts would go toward the 2019 elections.
Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Mr Garba-Deen Muhammad, however, refuted the allegation.
“[It’s] not true, and I think that is obvious if you read the story with an open mind,” he said via a text message.
Zarembok filed an employment claim against BP, alleging that he was fired for raising concerns about the large sums being transferred to intermediaries to win business in Nigeria.
Zarembok was quoted as saying in a witness statement made public this month that emails sent in 2017 by a BP executive in Nigeria were a “clear red flag” and implied “there would be pressure to pay bribes.”
Citing lawsuits in London and New York, Bloomberg had reported on Friday that an ex-BP Plc oil trader alleged that cargo allocations by the NNPC could have contributed to preparations for general elections in 2019.
The report said a former Glencore Plc employee in July admitted paying a middleman $300,000 to secure a crude shipment from the NNPC, understanding the money would be spent on the nationwide election that took place four years earlier.
The NNPC, through its Direct Sale of Crude Oil and Direct Purchase of Petroleum Product scheme, awards contracts that allow companies, including international trading houses and indigenous firms, to lift crude oil in return for the delivery and supply of petroleum products. The contracts are usually for one year.
