FORMER senator, Magnus Abe, has debunked allegations that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, and his cronies were plotting to cover up a $650m oil contract scam.
Abe, who is a member of the Board of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, stated this in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt on Thursday.
Abe, who is the immediate past lawmaker that represented Rivers South-East District in the National Assembly, was responding to an online report that made the claims, describing it was a figment of the imagination of the author.
The statement reads, “The said story is clearly designed to create the impression of a major scandal and arm-twist the Federal Government in the matter concerning the recent attempt to revoke some oil blocks of a foreign company, Addax Petroleum.
“Nigerians, however, need to know that Kaztec Engineering Limited, a local company, was awarded contracts worth over $650m by Addax Petroleum to develop the oil fields operated by Addax Petroleum”.
“In 2015, the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari, in keeping with its anti-corruption agenda, accused Addax of tax atrocities which resulted in substantial losses to the Federal Government.
“Addax was asked to pay. In response, they (Addax) declared a force majeure on their exploration activities and cancelled their investments in the oil fields.
“The Nigerian company, Kaztec, a company that has invested over $650m in the project with Addax was forced to bear the brunt of the entire dispute, which was actually between Addax Petroleum and the Nigerian government.
