OT Starcrest
N12bn scandal rocks NNPC
By OLAWALE RASHEED - 17.11.2006
A N12 billion oil deal between Addax Petroleum of Canada and Nigeria’s Starcrest Energy Limited is creating ripples as reports alleged monumental fraud in the entire transactions. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is in charge of holding and conducting oil bids for oil firms both upstream and downstream.
The crux of the outcry is that Starcrest is owned by Chief Emeka Offor, Ikechukwu Okpala and Tochukwu Odukwe, businessmen alleged to be fronting for some top administration officials.
It was learnt that the suspicion was strengthened by the fact that Starcrest was registered on May 19, 2006 and was allegedly offered a lucrative oil block in breach of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative to which Nigeria subscribed in 2003.
Starcrest, after securing the oil block, proceeded to sell 72.5 per cent of its equity to Addax Petroleum, making N5 billion while retaining 22.5 per cent equity.
While reports said Starcrest got the offer through the back door, Addax president, Jean Claude Gandur, insisted that the block in question, OPL 291, was tendered by the Nigerian government under the 2006 mini-bid round.
The deal is being linked to another Nigerian company, Safiya Global Investment Limited, a company in which Emeka Offor, the late Mohammed Waziri and Otunba Oyewole Johnson Fasawe are directors.
A company search of Safiya Limited at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) revealed that the company shares the same office with Starcrest at 22 Lobito Crescent, Abuja.
Investigation through the company search revealed that Waziri Mohammed purportedly resigned his directorship of the company on Monday, October 17, 2005, five days before he died in the Bellview plane crash in Lisa, Ogun State, on Saturday, October 22. The purported resignation is itself, raising suspicion as it was believed that the company could not afford public scrutiny of its records if it was to follow the procedure for changing its directors after the death of Waziri.
The shareholders of the company is Chief Emeka Offor (8,350,000), Otunba Fasawe (8,350,000) and Mohammed Waziri (8,350,000). Waziri was replaced by one Alhaji Hassan S. Ibrahim.
In its three years of operation, the company, which is also into oil exploration and exploitation like Starcrest Energy, has not filed annual returns with the CAC.
Impeccable presidency sources said the equity of the company was held in trust for a leading administration official, a top official of the Senate and a cabinet minister who has been in the eye of the storm for his controversial pronouncements on critical national issues.
A reliable presidential source disclosed that the oil block was allocated to secure the co-operation of the top legislator and the minister for the roles they are expected to play in the new bid for tenure extension scheduled for early next year.
Addax Petroleum Corporation had a few days ago announced that its wholly owned subsidiary had entered into a farm-out agreement with Starcrest Nigeria Energy Limited, an indigenous Nigerian oil company, pursuant to which Addax Petroleum and Starcrest have signed a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in respect of Oil Prospecting Licence (“OPL”) 291 deep water offshore Nigeria. Addax Petroleum has a participating interest of 72.5 per cent and is the operator.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the EFCC had said he would investigate the sale of oil acreage that was offered in open auction but subsequently sold off behind closed doors.
Nuhu Ribadu told the Financial Times in a recent interview that he would examine how a lucrative oil block was sold off without being declared by Nigeria’s petroleum ministry, despite open bidding procedures designed to bring a measure of credibility to Nigerian oil licence awards.
“I want to assure you that this will definitely be investigated,” said Mr. Ribadu. “As I have always said, it is no longer business as usual in Nigeria.”
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is yet to publicly explain how the block was awarded to Starcrest, a company with no proven track record in the oil industry but which industry sources say has strong political connections.
Efforts to get administration officials to comment on the story proved abortive as none of them was available. The spokesman of the NNPC, Dr. Levi Ajunoma, did not answer his phones despite several attempts while the presidential assistant on public affairs, Mallam Uba Sani, stated that he did not have immediate comments, saying he would speak today.
Aviation
* Facing Nigeria’s aviation challenge
* The crashes have spiritual undertone - Airways workers
Prope
