(Abuja): The House of Representatives on Wednesday mandated its Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) and Public Procurement to investigate the 260 million dollars contract awarded by the National Petroleum Investment Services (NAPIMS).
This followed a motion raised by Rep. Babatunde Kolawole (Ondo-APC), which was unanimously adopted by members through a voice vote.
Kolawole explained that NAPIMS, a subsidiary of the NNPC, granted approval to Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil to award four single source contracts.
The lawmaker said that the contract was for projects in ExxonMobil’s Usan Deep Water project for the sum of 260 million dollars without following due process.
Kolawole expressed concern that NAPIMS had through three memoranda nominated four companies to execute the contracts without approval from the NNPC board and its Group Executive Committee.
In his contribution, Rep. Gabriel Onyenwife (Anambra-APGA) said that the House was carrying out its mandate as stated in Section 88 (2) of the 1999 Constitution to expose corruption, waste and inefficiency.
The House urged the committees to report back to it within four weeks for further legislative action.