- The former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison Madueke, failed to sign a long-term agreement with New Delhi, Nigeria’s Number One oil buyer, but rather used intermediaries in the annual $15 billion deal, the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam, has revealed.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Trust on Sunday at the weekend, the High Commissioner stated that Nigeria is the only country who uses intermediaries in its oil deals with India, saying, “From other countries, when we buy oil, whatever we want to pay, we pay to the Ministry of Finance of that country.In Nigeria, we pay to intermediaries. We would like to be dealing directly with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). It’s not a good thing. Why should we go through intermediaries? Secondly, we would also like to have long term agreement, which we have with many countries: Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and other countries from where we buy oil. Nigeria is the only country with whom we don’t have an agreement. .. When we write a letter to NNPC, we don’t get a response.”
- The NNPC 2014 Annual Statistical Bulletin indicated that India bought 136,419,844 barrels of crude oil, at a time when the United States’ own purchases from Nigeria was 24,047,758. China’s oil purchases from Nigeria also went as low as 11,412,275, despite the fact that it is one of Nigeria’s major trading partners.
- Next to India in oil purchases from Nigeria is the Netherlands, which imported 101,953,572 barrels of crude oil in 2014. Spain is next with 79,647,587 barrels, then South Africa comes fifth with the purchase of 51,148,821 barrels of crude oil from Nigeria.
- Daily Trust
Defend what? Have you made any allegations of criminality in your post? Please stop all this sensationalism and stick to facts and financial reporting.