Alhaji Maman Ahmadu, Director General, Bureau of Public procurement ( BPP) said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) followed due process in the procurement of the Ajaokuta, Kaduna, Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project contract.
Ahmadu made the calrification when NNPC delegation led by the Group Managing Director Malam Mele Kyari paid him a courtesy call in Abuja, on Wednesday.
There had been a social media report alleging that the NNPC inflated the AKK gas pipeline contract to the tune of 1.527 billion dollars.
“The person that spoke to you that mentioned that NNPC followed due process was the officer who reviewed the whole process but after i read about it on the social media, i called on him to brief me on the relationship between the due process and what was carried in the social media.
“And of course he noticed a very big variation in what we did, that of the NNPC with what was in the social media.
“Then we went further to find out how they came about the Information they diseminated, ofcause, we saw that they picked the information somewhere else and used it in a manner that was meant to hurt what NNPC did.
“But, i think we are ontop of the situation, we have our documents intacts and it is available for scrutiny by anyone who is interested.
“The publication was not true, from what i have already said, the publication is not reflective of what happened, ” he said.
He urged investors to jettison such irresponsibility exhibited in the report adding that the government was committed to transparency in all its dealings.
Ahmadu who affirmed a good working relationship with the NNPC further commended the Corporation on the AKK project adding that when completed would revolutionise the gas supply chain in the country.
He noted the project expected to be extended to other African countried would help to further launch the country into global oil market.
He urged the Corporation to ensure the reviving of the oil pipelines to help reduce the number of trucks that ply the roads.
Responding, Kyari said that the Corporation would continue to ensure accountability as a public owned organistion.
He said that it would continue to follow due process according to the procurement law in the country.
He said that the establishment of the BPP act had encouraged the Corporation to do more and comply to the extant laws.
“We are happy to be here, you will hear alot but know it that we will continue to do our best to be accountable, transparent in all we do.
” We are partner with the global Extrative Industries Transparency Initiative, everything we do is open to public scrutiny,” he said.
Commenting on the state of oil pipelines, he said that though there were still incidents of vandalism and criminality, efforts were still on to replace aged ones.
He said that the Corporation targeted two to three years to ensure replacement of some of the pipeline to enhance products supply.
On the AKK gas pipeline, he said that it was unfortunate that people would always want to spread false news to bring down government effort.
He noted that the allegation on the project was malicious and pedestrain adding that public scrutiny was good for business but should not to be malicious.
“People should be responsible when subjecting government offices to scrutiny,”he added.
