Coastal shipping: Reps summons Kyari over allegation of contract award to foreign companies.
By Uthman Salami
The lawmakers in the green chamber have summoned the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kolo Kyari, over the alleged award of a coastal shipping contract to a foreign company.
The Chairman, House Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring, Rep. Legor Idagbor, made this known on Wednesday.
The adhoc Committee is currently beaming its searchlight through an investigative hearing to find out whether the contract awarded to a foreign company, UNIBROS in 2020, followed due process.
The General Managing Director, Kyari is expected to be thoroughly quizzed when he appears before the committee on October 13.
According the committee, “If the NNPC fails to appear, the process of the law and the powers given to the National Assembly would be followed to deal with the corporation.”
The Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mohammed Nami, stated in the letter/ at the hearing that UNIBROS was not registered in its database and that payment had been made in the name of the company.
Meanwhile, President of the Shippers Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Dr George Onyung during the hearing on Wednesday, said the NNPC sidelined local shippers and operated without due process.
According to him, “The NNPC awarded the contract to UNIBROS. It is a coastal shipping contract. It is one contract, but for 11 vessels. That is the whole share of coastal shipping.
“This means that when those vessels that bring the product from abroad arrive Nigeria, the ships that would take the products to various jetties that have the shallow draft, which is a cabotage trade to start with, is supposed to be domiciled in Nigeria.
“They gave it to one company called UNIBROS, and all those ships are foreign flags, all are foreign-owned, and they do not hire Nigerians.”
He told the committee that indigenous and local companies had shown many times that they had the capacity to handle such projects.
Meanwhile, earlier Nigerian NewsDirect confirmed the appointment of the 4 members of the board of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NURC).
The new agency will automatically lead to the scrapping of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which will have its responsibilities taken over by the commission.
Those confirmed by the Senate include Isa/ Modibbo – Chairman; Gbenga Komolafe – Chief Executive; Hassan Gambo – Executive Commissioner, Finance and Accounts; and Rose Ndong – Executive Commissioner, Exploration and Acreage Management.
