FG Agency Says It Has Not Granted NNPC Approval On Concession Of Port Harcourt Refinery

Following the invocation of the Freedom of Information Act by coalition of 20 civil society and rights groups through the Festus Keyamo Chambers, the  regulatory agency responsible for all concession agreements and its approval, the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, ICRC, on Tuesday said it has not approved any concession on refineries in the country.

BigPen Online had exclusively reported on Monday that a coalition of 20 civil society and rights groups wrote the Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission to make available to them all relevant information over the proposed concession of Port Harcourt Refinery pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. 

Representatives of various non-governmental Organisation had through the Keyamo’s Chambers in a request application signed by Festus Ukpe, counsel and John Ainetor, Assistant Head, demanded to know if the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Federal Government followed necessary procedures on the concession of the Port Harcourt Refinery to Nigerian Agip Oil Company/ENI.

The group said that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources had released information to several news outlets in the mainstream and online media of the planned concession of the refinery.

The FoI applicants had sought to know whether the commission had granted approval as the regulatory body in accordance to the law and have taken custody of the said concession agreement of which they had applied for a certified copies of all the documents regarding the concession of the Port Harcourt Refinery to Nigerian Agip Oil Company/ENI.

ALSO READ:20 Rights Groups Invoke Freedom Of Information Act Over Concession Of Refineries

But replying to the inquiry, Director General of ICRC, Aminu Diko said that NNPC has not approached the commission on any plan to grant concession of the said refinery or any other arrangement with any other private company for the repair, operation or maintenance of the said refinery.

“If there is any such arrangement, NNPC is required by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (Establishment etc) Act 2005 (the Act) and the National Policy on Public Private Partnership, PPP 2009 to liaise with  the commission for regulatory guidance prior to the entering into any contract”.

“The Commission only read about the proposed transaction in the THISDAY newspaper article dated Sunday 21th May, 2017 which reported a decision by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to revitalize the nation’s Refineries using repairs, operation, and maintenance mechanism”.

Diko, reiterated that there is no concession on the refinery and therefore, the commission does not have any documentation of the said concession.

Written by Joe Ogbodu