The House of Representatives Wednessday summoned the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and multi national oil company, Agip and OANDO PLC over failure to pay a $16.5 million debt to a Nigerian company, Decoon Services Limited.
The NNPC, Agip and OANDO were to appear before the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Upstream to explain their own side of the story following a petition by Decoon Services Limited.
Decoon Services Ltd, had in a petition accused Agip of failing to pay them the $16.5 million debt arising from what it described as a stop gap contract awarded to it in 2010 and executed but not paid for after series of alleged frustrations and other efforts to shortchange the company by multi national oil company.
But at the Commitee’s sitting, Agip wrote that it could not appear for the hearing because it has also been invited to appear before the House Committee on Public Petitions.
In the letter read by the Chairman of the Committee, Musa Sarkin Adar (APC, Sokoto) Agip said even if it decide to appear before the Committee, it can only do so in September since it was not in operation at the moment as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Committee however rejected the suggestions of a September date and the inability to appear because of another invitation before the Committee on Public Petition, stressing that even if invited by 50 Committees, the company is obliged to appear.
In his presentation before the Committee, the Managing Director of Decoon Services, Nelson Onubogun said the multinational company allegedly breached all the contract agreements entered into between them as joint venture partners.
He said despite interventions by the NNPC and other stakeholders, the company refused to obliged and subsequently re-awarded the contract to another company without due process and later terminated the contract without paying his company the money it is being owed.
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