NNPC Recovers $1.6bn From Arbitration – Baru

The  Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru has said that the corperation saved $1.6bn  from the arbitration between its flagship Upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), and the Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Nigeria Limited.

The NNPC boss disclosed this during a Honorary Fellowship Award  confered on him by the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria (CIFIPN) at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Tuesday.
CIFIPN is an anti-Fraud organisation saddled with the responsibility of providing skills to professionals from relevant fields on the use of science and technology to detect, prevent and investigate fraud and also put some measures to prevent future occurrence.

The GMD, according to a statement signed by the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu said NNPC paid only $37.5m out of the $400m initially demanded by International Petroleum Corporation (IPCO) in a litigation, amounting to 91.5 per cent savings, adding that it was sheer act of courage for the NNPC team to follow through with the cases without compromise considering the humongous amount involved.
  He said most of the cases were brought to the fore through fraud and forensic investigation which helped the corporation to get value for money.
“There is a lot of sanity that has happened in the industry as a result of this. Recently, due to the work, we were able to get the Atlantic companies who were fleecing the NNPC subsidiary, the NPDC, and we got an award for them to refund 1.6 billion dollars to the NPDC, through the arbitration process. 
“We have also been able to stem fraud. High profile court cases were been set up to defraud the NPDC. 
“ If you see the amount of money involved, if you do not have people who are determined to fight corruption, our chances would have been compromised by over 1.6 billion dollars. 

“So this Institute’s intention is laudable and the conferment of fellowship on me will make me more determined to support their activities and being a patron, will help me to share with them some of the knowledge and training that I have received as a certified fraud examiner,” Dr. Baru said.

Baru further stated that the collaboration with the institute would create an enabling environment for many people to be trained in-country, saying this would go a long way to stem fraud, corruption and cybercrime in the society.

Dr. Baru noted  that the most important thing for any economy and any business was to make sure that fraud did not occur, stressing that the prevention aspect was key to achieving the desired result of a corruption-free Nigeria.

Determined to fight corruption, Baru who  was the  second Chairman of the NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee in 2004,  said he  ensured that all staff of the corporation and its various stakeholders were educated about NNPC’s corporate policies and the various anti-corruption acts in the country in order to avoid fraudulent transaction.
He applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for the support extended to the NNPC to ensure sanity in the system, emphasizing that the anti-corruption stance of the Federal Government had added a lot of value to the nation’s hydrocarbon operations.
Earlier, the President of CIFIPN, Dr. Victoria Enape, said Dr.  Baru was conferred with the award because he was a champion of anti-corruption in NNPC, stressing that the partnership with the corporation would ensure effective prevention of fraud, corruption and cyber crimes in Nigeria.