The Presidency, on Sunday, said that both the reports that $25 billion worth of oil contracts were awarded by the NNPC and that $25 billion in NNPC funds was missing, were false.

Senior Special Assistant to the President, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande, disclosed this in a Statement in Abuja, saying that the impression that there was any contract procured by the NNPC based on the leaked memo of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, had been ‘maliciously’ created in the past few weeks.

Akande said that in a tweet last week Thursday, he indicated that the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, approved Joint Venture Financing arrangements while acting as President.

He then said, “But for some curious reasons, a few media reports used that tweet to report that I said the then Acting President approved N640 billion worth of oil contracts. Such reporting is both false and misleading, and therefore, ought to be completely ignored by all seekers of truth.

“When you look diligently at the referenced projects/transactions one by one, you will see, as NNPC has shown, that none of them was actually a procurement contract.

“For the sake of emphasis, let me state clearly that both the Crude Term Contract and the Direct  Sale and Direct Purchase agreements are not contracts for any procurement of goods, works or services, and therefore, do not involve the use of public funds.

Instead, they are simply a shortlisting of off-takers. And unlike what has been reported in the media so far, it is important to set the records straight that the list of approved off-takers does not carry any financial values but simply states the terms and conditions for the lifting and supply of petroleum products,” Akande added.

He also disclosed that, on the NPDC, there was no contract in the $3 billion to $4 billion range as reported in the media.

“You can then see from the foregoing, that the $25 billion being bandied in the media does not exist. There is no $25 billion missing,” he concluded.