I approved NNPC loans not contracts, says Osinbajo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday said he did not sign N640billion oil contracts when the President was in London on medical leave.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and  Publicity, Mr.  Laolu Akande said the VP only gave approval for financing arrangements for the Joint Ventures between the corporation and IOCs.

The statement said: “Approached by reporters after the ground-breaking multi-billion Naira historic Bonny-Bodo road project, in Bonny, Rivers State, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, explained specifically that the approvals he granted to the NNPC while he was Acting President were for financing arrangements for the Joint Ventures between the corporation and IOCs, and not approvals for contracts.”

The statement quoted the VP as saying: “These were financing loans. Of course, you know what the Joint Ventures are, with the lOCs, like Chevron, that had to procure. In some cases, NNPC and their Joint Venture partners have to secure loans and they need authorization to secure those loans while the President was away. The law actually provides for those authorisations.

“So I did grant two of them and those were presidential approvals, but they are specifically for financing joint ventures and they are loans not contracts.”

The SSA added: “Earlier today, I had tweeted on the same matter thus: “In response to media inquiries on the NNPC Joint Venture financing arrangements, VP Osinbajo, as Acting President, approved the recommendations after due diligence and adherence to established procedures.

“This was, of course, necessary to deal with huge backlog of unpaid cash calls which the Buhari administration inherited, and to incentivise much needed fresh investments in the oil and gas sector.”