Founder of the British firm that would receive $8.9billion arbitral awarded against Nigeria by a UK court, Michael Quinn, on Saturday amidst denials of involvement by public officials named key Nigerian government officials who played different roles in the process that led to the contract.
The award in favour of Process & Industrial Development Limited (P&ID), a British engineering firm, followed an alleged breach of a 2010 gas contract agreement by the company and the Nigerian government.
Mr Quinn named two former presidents, late Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, as well as the late petroleum minister, Rilwan Lukman, as privy to the contract.
Other top government officials he named in the negotiations for the contract include former petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke; former energy minister, Olatunde Odusina; former presidential adviser on petroleum, Emmanuel Egbogah; former Group Managing Director of NNPC, Shehu Ladan, as well as his counterparts between 2011 and 2012.
The then manager (Gas) of National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Labi Ajibade; the Managing Director, Addax Petroleum in 2010, Neil Hitchcock; then Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Goni Sheikh; the director (legal) of the petroleum ministry, Grace Taiga, and a representative of the ministry’s head of policy (Ibrahim).
Mr Quinn also named the then Group General Manager/Special Technical Adviser to NNPC (General Executive Director, Power and Gas, NNPC), David Ige; representatives of the Department of Petroleum Resources, Ogwu Jones and Sunday Babalola; the then technical assistant to the petroleum minister, Taofiq Tijani; the then general manager of planning, gas and petroleum of NNPC, Uno Adeniji; then manager, gas and petroleum, NNPC (Umar); the then technical adviser to the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Nuhu Tizhe; the then assistant legal adviser to the petroleum minister, Belgore; Debo Spaine of Addax Petroleum, and Mohammed Kuchazi of P&ID.
Mr Quinn said the mention of these official does not imply any wrong-doing on their part.
