The Federal Government on Tuesday denied alleged plans to sell the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG).
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, debunked the allegation during an investigative hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Gas Resources and Allied Matters in Abuja.
Kachikwu, who was represented by the Director of Gas Resources in the ministry, said he was not aware of any plans to sell NLNG by the Federal Government.
However, the documents submitted by the ministry and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on the issue were not accepted by the committee because of identified issues.
The committee said it discovered irregularities in the documents as presented by NNPC’s Chief Operating Officer (Upstream), Bello Rabiu, who represented the Group Managing Director (GMD), Baru Maikanti.
The committee also pointed out that the documents were not signed.
The lawmakers also queried NNPC and the Petroleum Ministry over some increases in the upgrade contract of OML 58 and the execution of the Northern Option pipeline.
NNPC was said to have entered into a Joint Venture with Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (TEPNG), with a Modified Carry Agreement.
The agreement entailed the award of contract to TEPNG to execute the OML 58 Upgrade 1 in 2008, Obite-Ubeta-Rumuji pipeline in 2010, and the Northern Option Pipeline in 2011.
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