Nigeria’s former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-
Madueke, on Wednesday, chided the Indian High
Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Ajjampur Ghanashyam, over
his allegations that as former minister, Alison-Madueke
‘sat’ on a $15 billion oil deal.
Alison-Madueke who spoke through her lawyers, Messers
Chike Amobi and Co., dismissed the allegations, describing it
as spurious, unfounded and libelous.
Diezani Alison-Madueke
According to her, the High commissioner, Mr. Ghanashyam’s
acrimony towards her is due to the refusal of the Federal
Government of Nigeria to allow the Indian company, Oil and
Gas Commission Videsh Limited (OVL), default on its
contractual obligation to provide a $6 billion investment,
(around RS36, 600 crore) in an 180,000 barrels (bpd)
Greenfield refinery and 2,000 megawatt power plant or
railway line from East to West of Nigeria.
In a release made to journalists in Abuja on behalf of the
former minister, she said the publication by Mr. Ajjampur
R. Ghanashyam to the effect that she delayed the
approval of oil concession to twin Indian companies, Oil and
Gas Commission Videsh Limited (OVL) and Mittal Energy
International JV, OMEL (MITTAL) in 2006, after receiving a
$25,000,000.00 signature bonus, is spurious, false and
lacking in substance.
Madueke clarified that she was not the Minister of
Petroleum Resources in 2006 when the said Indian
companies entered into contractual agreement with the
Federal Government and as such wouldn’t have received
any signature bonus either as citizen or minister of the
Federal Republic.
She also said she had no personal reason to sit on the
contract just as she wondered why the High Commissioner
would “choose to malign and attack her rather than
commend her acting dispassionately in recommending for
refund of the said signature bonus to the Indians when the
matter was brought to her attention at the twilight of her
tenure as minister.”
“When the issue of the request for refund, made by OVL,
was re-presented to me in May 2015, I immediately
prepared and dispatched a letter dated 13th May, 2015,
Ref #: PI.LM/3900/S.693/Vol.1/78b, to former President,
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR), recommending for the
refund of the said signature bonus in compliance with the
relevant and extant laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
which requires such approvals to be granted by the
President, and implemented by the Federal Ministry of
Finance.”
Mrs. Madueke further explained that the Federal
Government voided the contract with OVL because the
company wanted the Federal Government of Nigeria to
waive the commitments they made during the bidding
process which included investing $6 billion (around RS
36,600 crore) in an 180,000 barrels per day (bpd)
greenfield refinery, a 2000 megawatt power plant or a
railway line from East to West of Nigeria, all of which were
considered in granting the concession in the first place.
On the allegation that the Indian High Commission to
Nigeria suggested that contrary to global best practices in
the industry, Mrs. Alison-Madueke used intermediaries to
receive payment for crude oil transactions with India,
clearly imputing a fraudulent ill-feeling to the former
minister’s operation, she explained that the contract in
question was a government to government crude oil sales
transaction with established procedures which predates her
tenure as minister.
She also said that the established procedure stipulates that
the buying country, in this case India, selects and presents
a local company as its agent to transact on its behalf as it
is never the responsibility of selling country to select or
nominate a company for the buying country.
She maintained that Nigeria never dictated nor suggested
any intermediary or marketing company for India for the
purposes of the said transaction.
“Apparently, the Indian High Commission to Nigerian
mischievously obfuscated these facts to malign the former
Nigerian Petroleum Minister whilst not disclosing that it was
a government to government crude sales transaction,” the
statement said.
The former Minister disclosed that what Mr. Ajjampur R.
Ghanashyam neglected to inform Nigerians is that the oil
concession was not granted to Oil and Gas Commission
Videsh Limited (OVL) and Mittal Energy International JV,
OMEL (MITTAL) due to inability of their subsidiary EMO
Exploration and Production to meet cash obligation.
According to the lawyers acting on behalf of the minister,
“Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam’s acrimony towards our
client is due to the refusal of the Federal Government of
Nigeria to allow OVL default on its contractual obligation to
Nigeria in the case of:
A $ 6 billion investment, (around RS 36, 600 crore) in an
180,000 barrels (bpd) Greenfield refinery.
2,000 megawatt power plant or railway line from East to
West of Nigeria.”
Mrs. Alison-Madueke said as a diplomat, the Indian High
Commissioner who should foster bilateral and multilateral
relations between his country and Nigeria, belittled “such a
lofty position by officiously spreading false and misleading
information calculated to malign Nigerian public officials ,
a conduct unbecoming of a foreign diplomat.
Indian-High-Commissioner-Ajjampur-Ghanashyam-
when-he-paid-a-courtesy-call-on-President-
Muhammadu-Buhari-recently
“We believe the conduct of Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam is
aimed at damaging our client’s reputation for her
insistence on protecting the interests of the people of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, and for not acceding to
inappropriate requests of his country to be relieved of its
contractual obligations to Nigeria.
“Based on the falsity and unfounded allegations against
our client, we firmly but humbly request an unequivocal
apology and a complete retraction of the libelous
statements from Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam against our
client.”
Mrs. Madueke advised Mr. Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam to
govern his future conduct accordingly to prevent the
possibility of reoccurrence of any other events that could
potentially diminish the exalted office of a diplomat he
represents.
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