Osinbajo: I Approved Loans, Not NNPC Contracts

The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has cleared the air on earlier reports that he signed oil contracts worth N648billion for the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Speaking during the Bodo-Bonny Road flag-off in Rivers state, Osinbajo said what he approved were “Loans not Contracts”.

Recall that Osinbajo’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, had earlier tweeted that the Vice President approved recommendations for NNPC’s joint venture financing.

“In response to media inquiries on NNPC joint venture financing, VP Osinbajo, as Ag President, approved recommendations after due diligence & adherence to established procedure.

“Action necessary to deal with huge backlog of unpaid cash calls which Buhari admin inherited and also to incentivise much needed fresh investments in the oil & gas sector,” Akande had tweeted.

But reacting to misconceptions regarding Akande’s statement, Osinbajo clarified that he only consented to loans and not contracts as widely reported.

“They were financing loans, joint venture loans, that have procured so in some cases NNPC ventures have to secure loans and they need the authorization to secure those loans.

“While the President was away, I granted authorization which is what the law provides.

“The law actually provides for that authorization, so I did grant all of those, in fact, there were two of them but those are presidential approvals but they are specifically for financing joint ventures and they are Loans not Contracts”, said the Vice President.