NNPC denies funding 2019 elections with bribes from oil traders

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation reacted on Saturday to an allegation that fees that trading firms paid agents to win oil contracts from the corporation might have raised funds for the country’s past two elections. Nigeria’s past two general elections held in 2015 and 2019. The contest for the presidential seat was mainly between ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in 2015, while it was between Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in 2019. Buhari was declared winner in the two elections. Citing lawsuits in London and New York, Bloomberg had reported on Friday that an ex-BP Plc oil trader alleged that cargo allocations by the NNPC could have contributed to preparations for general elections in 2019. The report said a former Glencore Plc employee in July admitted paying a middleman $300,000 to secure a crude shipment from the NNPC, understanding the money would be spent on the nationwide election that took place four years earlier. The NNPC, through its Direct Sale of Crude Oil and Direct Purchase of Petroleum Product scheme, awards contracts that allow companies, including international trading houses and indigenous firms, to lift crude oil in return for the delivery and supply of petroleum products. The contracts are usually for one year. The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Mr Garba-Deen Muhammad, refuted the allegation. “It’s not true, and I think that is obvious if you read the story with an open mind,”