Aiteo Group has
described as scandalous and defamatory, a publication by an online newspaper,
Premium Times, alleging without any foundation whatsoever, that the company
maintained a corrupt relationship with the erstwhile Nigerian Minister for
Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
According to a statement issued yesterday by the
Senior Manager in charge of Corporate Communications at Aiteo Group, Mr.
Ndiana-Abasi Matthew, the company stated that any objective reader of the
defamatory article “would readily come to the irresistible conclusion that the
publication is, to all intents and purposes, prejudicially designed to tarnish
the image and reputation of the company as well as that of our Executive Vice
Chairman.”
“As some of these matters are sub-judice, we are
unable to comment entirely on all issues raised. However, global best practice
demands that we tender this rebuttal for the sake of shareholders, host
communities, over 11,000 people who derive their livelihood from the company
and the general public,” said the statement.
The company further clarified that at no time in
its history, has any of its directors or employees ever been involved in any
form of criminal or immoral business, other conduct or activity with the former
Petroleum Minister, any NNPC or other government staff or agent.
Aiteo further maintained that it never benefitted
from the Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) referenced in the article. “We were a major player in the Nigerian oil
sector importing petroleum products for NNPC and exporting naphtha, fuel oil
and condensates and already a flourishing and prosperous group by any standards
long before Mrs Alison-Madueke’s appointment as Minister of Petroleum
Resources.
Aiteo’s core area of business has been the trading
and distribution of sundry petroleum products since its inception in 1999.
Furthermore, the NNPC has publicly confirmed that no Aiteo entity is indebted
to NNPC or any of its subsidiaries,” Aiteo said.
“The article purported that Aiteo has been linked
to the alleged 2015 INEC bribery scheme but failed to state in which way it
arrived at this conclusion simply because no such reality exists. It is only
those seeking to deliberately besmirch the hard-earned reputation of Aiteo as
Nigeria’s foremost indigenous oil and gas company that will dubiously link the company,
in the manner that the publication has done,” the company said.
Aiteo argued that it is with respect to their false
inferences concerning OML 29 that the true motive of the authors of the
publication comes to light.
“The truth is that the sale of OML 29 to the Aiteo
Consortium by Shell, was conducted under international best practices, with
Aiteo emerging as the preferred bidder due to its superior technical and
commercial competence.
The rigor and transparency under which the bid was
conducted by the owners of the purchased interest, Shell, Total and Agip, made
it unnecessary and impossible for anyone to influence the outcomes
inordinately. These allegations are, therefore, wrong and should not have been
published,” Aiteo explained.
“That Aiteo is able to announce a production
increase of 400 per cent from about 23kbpod a year ago to averaging over
90kbpod, is a testament to the technical robustness of our work force and the
prudence and professionalism of our management team,” Aiteo added.
“Despite our open-door policy to media enquiries,
the authors claimed to have attempted to contact us several times. However, it
is a shame that none of those efforts extended to using the contact details on
our corporate website.
We have long seen this coming, as it is apparent to
Aiteo and any keen observer, that there is vested interest behind the unsavoury
publications, and that there is an orchestrated campaign of calumny on an
international level against an indigenous company that has gone global in
outlook and outreach,” Aiteo explained.
“We are now left with no choice but to consider
legal action against organisations who have or will allow themselves to be
irresponsibly and unlawfully used in this smear campaign. Aiteo Group’s
contribution to the overall financial capacity of the country cannot be
overemphasised. Our activities have contributed several millions of US Dollars
to the country’s coffers and led to direct foreign investment worth more than
US$4 billion, in addition to several other corporate social investments,” the
company said.
“Despite laborious struggle to present Aiteo as a
corporate entity with questionable credentials and poor track record in the
industry, we make bold to say that our business is driven by a commitment to
integrity, transparency and accountability, and that commitment is the
cornerstone of our resilience and accomplishments, and which underpins Aiteo’s
resolve to provide Nigeria consistently with integrated energy solutions that
power the future,” the company added.
News
Source: - Vanguard | August 21, 2017.
Photo Source: - aiteogroup.com
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