By Adedapo Adesanya
The House of Representatives is investigating the acquisition of OVH Energy by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
This was contained in a letter dated August 28, addressed to the managing director of NNPC Retail Limited and signed by the chairman of the ad hoc committee, Mr Hassan Nalaraba.
In the letter, the parliament said at its sitting on Thursday, July 27, 2023, “considered the motion titled Need to Investigate the Irregularities and Alleged Corruption in the Nigerian Energy Security Provider, NNPC Retail Limited (HR. 171/07/2023).
“The House resolved to set up an Ad-hoc Committee to investigate the allegations raised in the Motion and subsequently constituted the Ad-hoc Committee.”
Consequent to the resolution of the meeting, the Ad-hoc committee requested the NNPC Limited to furnish it with information about “registration documents/history from CAC for OVH, Nueoil, and NNPC Retail Limited (NRL), Board Resolution of NNPCL on purchase of OVH, Audited Financial Statement and Management Accounts from 2015 to Date OVH, Nueoil, NRL and NNPCL” and the “payroll from 2015 to date for NRL and OVH, Board Resolution of NRL/CHQ for movement of head office to Lagos and evidence of Tax Payments for NRL and OVH from 2015 to date.”
The committee also requested documents on all financial transactions associated with the acquisition, including payment records and fund transfers.
It requested acquisition approvals and clearance by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other regulatory provisions; evidence of Due Diligence carried out prior to the acquisition, Organizational Structure of OVH and NRL pre-acquisition and current; Curriculum Vitae (CV) of top management of NRL, placement rationale (Evidence of Test/interviews or any selection method used for current placement) and any other relevant document pertaining to the acquisition transaction.
It added that the information is to be submitted in soft copies in a flash drive at Suite 0.09, House of Representatives New Wing, National Assembly on or before 12 p.m. Wednesday 30 August.
In October 2022, the state oil company acquired OVH Energy Marketing Limited’s downstream assets to add what it said was over 380 filling stations to its portfolio.
The assets acquired from the company, which operates Oando filling stations, also include a reception jetty with 240,000 metric tonnes monthly capacity and eight liquefied petroleum gas plants, three lube blending plants, three aviation depots, and 12 warehouses.
