The Chairman of the Mines and Energy Commission of Parliament, Samuel Atta Akyea, has debunked claims by the minority that $100m oil revenue has gone missing from the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF).
According to him, the funds were used to settle upfront, a loan taken from the Ministry of Finance by GNPC Subsidiaries which was used to purchase shares in the TEN and Jubilee oil fields on behalf of the state.
Atta Akyea said there might have been an administrative error in not placing the money in the fund before being used but there can be no doubt that the money was used to engage in activities which will inure to the benefit of the state.
“Well, I think it’s a storm in a teacup because sometimes the impression is being given that the money has been spirited away. There was an opinion from the attorney general to the effect that they needn’t place the money in that account for the simple reason that there’s a seven-per cent equity acquisition in the TEN and Jubilee fields by GNPC Subsidiary and they didn’t have the money so the ministry of finance borrowed them the money so they do this acquisition; they are trying to improve the governmental stakes in these petroleum blocks,” Atta Akyea said.
“When they [GNPC Subsidiaries] took the loan, they were unable to pay, so, they used the petroleum receipts due them to settle it, so, the ministry of finance took the money and paid for the loan upfront”, Mr Atta Akyea explained.
“The whole problem is simple: that the sheer fact that the money was not lodged in the PHF does not mean the money has been spirited away or stolen. … It’s all a balancing account but when push it to the political dimension that some money has been spirited away, it leaves much to be desired.
“The sum of money, if you look at it, is equal to the seven per cent equity stake that the government, through GNPC Subsidiary has acquired. Let’s look at it from that perspective. So, when somebody is using his ingenuity to confer advantage and benefit to Ghana, ultimately, how can that be a problem? And if the money was not so lodged in the PHF but it is shown that, indeed, the shares have been acquired, and the shares have been paid for, how can that be anything to undermine this country, financially?” he wondered.
The minority in Parliament accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government of engaging in a new clandestine ‘Agyapa deal’.
According to a statement dated September 29th, 2022, the NPP government has failed to account for $100m of oil revenue accruing from Ghana’s Petroleum lifting in the first quarter of 2022.
According to the Minority, the decision by the NPP Government to transfer revenues accruing from about 944,164bbls of crude lifting in the Jubilee and TEN fields to a company established in a haven (outside Ghana) without Parliamentary approval, amounts to a gross violation of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815) and Public Financial Management Act (Act 921).
The statement signed by John Abdulai Jinapor, Ranking Member on the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, said that the NPP government has proven over and over again that they cannot be entrusted with the country’s oil revenues.
Source: theGhanaianVoice.Com