The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has denied the existence of a chartered aircraft for exclusive use of the Minister of Petroleum, Deizani Alison-Madueke.
Last week, it was revealed by the House of Representatives that the Minister has expended over N10 billion on charter and maintenance of a Challenger 850 aircraft.
But, the NNPC management in a statement on Monday by the Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, stated that contrary to the information being peddled is some quarters, Mrs. Alison-Madueke has not chartered any aircraft for her personal use or the use of her family.
The corporation however, did not comment on the allegation that the minister spent N10 billion to charter and maintain a Challenger 850 aircraft.
Dr. Ibrahim insisted that the Corporation is empowered to own or charter airplane to ensure prompt discharge of its activities in line with global best practice.
He states, “NNPC however noted that in consonance with the legal instrument which establishes the Corporation as a commercial entity to engage in the oil and gas sector, the NNPC in course of discharging its statutory and commercial functions engages third parties for the provision of services outside of its core business.
“The Corporation noted that this practice is common and acceptable in the local and international business environment in which it operates.
“More specifically, we would like to state as follows’’-
There is nothing prohibiting NNPC from owning or chartering an aircraft. On the contrary, by the enabling legislation, NNPC is empowered to “hold, manage and alienate moveable and immovable property and enter into contracts or partnerships with any company, form or persons which in the opinion of the Corporation will facilitate the discharge of the said duties under this Act’’.(Please refer to Section 6 of the NNPC Act, Cap. N123, LFN 2004) .
Operations in the oil and gas sector are time sensitive and often require prompt attention, which cannot be achieved using regular scheduled flights. It is standard practice for large oil and gas Corporation such as NNPC to make use of the most efficient means of transportation to ensure the effective and efficient coverage of the vast scope of critical oil and gas assets under their purview.
NNPC has always availed itself of the use of owned or chartered aircraft for the purpose of its business, which includes the transportation of its top functionaries.
In this regard, it is pertinent to note that the international oil Companies operating in joint ventures with NNPC, regularly charter aircraft as dictated by the exigencies of their business. Indeed some have moved from owning their own aircraft to suing the charter opinion. Other national oil companies, such as Sonangol of Angola, have also chosen the charter option.
The advantages of the charter option include zero capital and maintenance costs resulting in a lower financial outlay and thus an improved cash flow”.
