Osinbajo approved N640 billion oil contracts, not Buhari

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has dismissed recent reports that two oil deals of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) approved by the presidency were signed by President Muhammadu Buhari while he was away on medical vacation in London.

Media reports indicated that President Buhari approved at least two separate oil contracts worth billions on July 10 and July 31 while Osinbajo was Acting President and should have been the one to make the approvals.

While the reports insinuated that the Vice President was unlikely to have granted approval to Group Managing Director of theNNPC,Dr. Maikanti Baru, during the period, the state-owned corporation had shot down the report saying it was Osinbajo who signed the approvals.

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On Thursday, October 12, the Vice President's spokesman, Laolu Akande took to his Twitter account to confirm that Osinbajo indeed approved the deals in line with relevant procedures.

He posted, "In response to media inquiries on NNPC joint venture financing, VP Osinbajo, as Acting President approved recommendations after due diligence and adherence to established procedure.

"Action necessary to deal with huge backlog of unpaid cash calls which Buhari administration inherited and also to incentivize much needed fresh investments in the oil and gas sector."

The NNPC started after a letter was leaked to media last week where Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu accused Dr. Baruof bypassing procedures in the award of oil contracts without a review by the NNPC board.

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.