President Muhammadu Buhari has revoked his earlier decision, authorizing the obtainment of Exxon Mobil shares in the United States of America by Seplat Energy…
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, verified this to reporters.
Shehu said the President had decided to back the regulator, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which had on Tuesday insisted on its refusal of assent to the ExxonMobil/Seplat Energy share acquisition worth $1.3 billion.
The presidential spokesman explained President Buhari now wanted the NUPRC position to be supported and noted that the confusion set in because “various agencies involved in (the) decision had not organized well among themselves.”
Shehu had earlier told an online news platform, “It has become clear that the various agencies involved in decision had not coordinated well among themselves and having looked at all of the facts with all of the ramifications, the president concluded the position of the regulator is to be supported.”
The reports that a Presidency statement on Monday announced that President Buhari had consented assent to the deal in which Seplat will acquire a 40 percent stake of ExxonMobil oil assets around Akwa Ibom State.
The statement cited the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, as an incentive to drive Foreign Direct Investment and raise oil production from the assets.
However, in a statement disclosed not long afterward, the NUPRC explained that the Commission in line with the provisions of the PIA 2021 is the sole regulator in dealing with such matters in the Nigerian upstream sector.