Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday met with Minister of State for Petroleum
Resources, Ibe Kachikwu and the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, at the Presidential
Villa, Abuja.
The meeting,
it was gathered, was to finalise government’s plan to exit from the joint
venture cash call initiative.
Kachikwu
told State House Correspondents after the meeting that government had indicated
interest to leave the programme over alleged perennial abuse in funding
upstream oil and gas joint venture operations with international oil companies
in the country.
He said the
meeting particularly dwelt on the issues raised by the management of Agip Oil
concerning the firm’s oil fields and involvement in the cash call venture.
The
minister, who said the closed-door meeting did not touch on the recent
controversy bothering on the alleged oil deals in the oil and gas sector, said
government was also working with relevant agencies and affected organisations
to ensure the release of the four Britons recently kidnapped in Delta State.
He revealed
plans by the NNPC to complete the opening of the escrow account but declined
comment on whether or not the pump price of petroleum products would drop in
the country before Christmas given the hike in price of petrol in the
international market.
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