David-West backs Baru against Kachikwu's allegations

Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Tam David-West has thrown his support behind Group Managing Director of the

In a leaked letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Kachikwu accused Baru of bypassing procedures in the award of oil contracts without a review by the NNPC board.

While speaking to the media in Oyo state on Tuesday, October 11, 2017, David-West said the NNPC's rules of lifting oil are so strict it would be hard for Baru to get away with any illegal dealing.

He also agreed with the NNPC's reply to Kachilkwu's letter that Kachikwu's NNPC board is not involved in the process of reviewing oil contracts like Kachikwu claimed.

He said, "On reading Kachikwu's letter, I was flabbergasted that something like that could ever happen. If it is the NNPC that I know, I can't believe that all those things could have happened. The rules of lifting oil are so strict that when I read his letter, I could not believe my eyes.

"To lift oil within Nigeria, you must be a corporate organisation or a country. If it is a corporate organisation, you must have a minimum of 20 staff and have a refinery.

"If it is a country, it must also have a refinery. The organisation must also submit audited financial report of three consecutive years and deposit a non-refundable fund of $1.5 million.

"Again, oil contracts are not discussed at either NNPC board meetings or Federal Executive Council meetings to avoid slowing down decision-making process. The corporation has its own tenders board though the basic rules have been updated over time.

"So, I was relieved on reading NNPC's response. It confirmed that things have not gone so bad as Kachikwu portrayed it in his letter.

"As a matter of fact, if the content of the letter were true, it would scare players in the oil industry away from Nigeria.

"With those strict conditions, it baffled me to read what Kachikwu wrote."

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After the public outrage that the letter created last week, Kachikwu and Baru finally met in Abuja at the Nigerian Economic Summit on Tuesday, October 10.