Osinbajo meets with Kachikwu, Baru ‘over joint venture cash call’

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday met with Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, and Maikanti Baru, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) at the presidential villa in Abuja.

Addressing state house correspondents at the end of the meeting, Kachikwu said issues around oil fields as well as the opening of escrow accounts and cash call were discussed at the meeting.

“It’s a meeting on the upstream. It was largely AGIP bringing some information to the vice-president on where they had been in terms of Okpai, in terms of Zabazaba Deepwater oilfield field, in terms of the cash call exit which they are doing with NNPC,” he said.

“Agip was basically updating him, asking for areas where they need some assistance from government officials to sort of fast track. It was normal upstream meeting.”

On the issue of cash call, he said, “We discussed only to the extent that a few completion items on NNPC, largely the opening up of the escrow accounts and that type of stuff which they need to fasten up on.

“But we are far gone on that. Installment payments are already going on, I think NNPC is undertaking by October or early next month to complete that whole process. So is going on very well.”

Kachikwu and Baru have been in the news since the petition the minister wrote against the GMD was made public.

He had accused the GMD of insubordination and of awarding contracts to the tune $25 billion without due process.

But Baru denied the allegations.

Kachikwu later said his letter was on governance and not on contracts which did “not follow due process”.