Media Reports on Perceived Persecution of Oil & Gas Operators

There have been media reports suggesting that some of the operators in the Oil & Gas sector are being investigated by State Security Services (SSS) in Nigeria

Recently there have been speculations in the media alleging travel watch listing and investigation of certain companies within the Oil and Gas sector in Nigeria.

These speculations have been brought to our attention.

Our review of one of the articles showed one of our Directors as being placed on a watch list by the Director of State Services (DSS).

For the record, we state that the mention of Sahara Energy and its Director in the article is not just an affront on our Director and the Sahara Group; it is at variance with our track record of best practice and professional excellence in the sector.

We hereby provide our comment on the issue.

Please click on the Persecution of Oil & Gas Operators link to access the details

Nigerian Fuel Subsidy Probe – Sahara Exonerated

At the beginning of 2012, the Nigerian government in its bid to deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum industry removed the subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS) and this resulted in civil unrest across the country and a plethora of emotive reports in the media, especially the internet, about oil companies operating in the country.

Later that year, the Federal Government of Nigeria set up a House of Representatives Committee, a Senate Committee as well as a Presidential Committee to review commercial transactions between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and petroleum marketers. All petroleum marketing companies operating in the country were invited to appear before the various committees. Sahara Energy appeared before the committees and presented documents that authenticated and validated transactions between her and NNPC.

At the end of the review exercise, the reports from the various committees were submitted to the Presidency. These reports contained the names of petroleum marketing companies that had been engaged in fraudulent and deceptive practices and specified the amounts of money that they were required to refund to the NNPC. Sahara Energy was not listed in any of the reports as engaging in fraudulent practices.

The Presidential Committee in its report of November 2012, verified that all transactions carried out by Sahara Energy were legitimate. These reports and their contents are available as public records for verification.

To further ensure that the company’s name and reputation was not tarnished, legal action is being taken against a media house that published unfounded and malicious stories about Sahara Energy. This organisation has offered to issue public apologies and also make appropriate restitution to Sahara Energy.

The Sahara Group has continued to expand operations globally and will continue to represent the highest levels of business ethics and corporate governance.

Download copies of reports:

Report Name Links
Report of the House of Representative’s Ad-hoc Committee on the subsidy regime in Nigeria. (See pages 194-195) Full Report
The Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments. (See pages 6 and 13) Part 1
Part 2

Allegations Surrounding LNG Project In Ghana

Our attention has been drawn to recent articles circulating in the print media, on the internet and social media implying that Sahara Energy made prohibited payments to Government officials in order for a project which West African Gas Limited entered into with the Ministry of Power be approved by Parliament;

and

(ii) That West African Gas Limited is filing claims to recover charter costs which were incurred before it had concluded the project contract.

We state for the record the following:

In February 2015, West African Gas Limited (WAGL) on the invitation of the Ministry of Power entered negotiations for the supply of LNG to Ghana to power several of its thermal power plants under its emergency power intervention program. The negotiations culminated with a Gas Supply Agreement being executed in October 2015 with the Government of Ghana acting through the Ministry of Power. The project consisted of, supply of a Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU), dredging of the breakwater at the Tema Port, other port upgrades and the laying of a 8km Gas pipeline.

The project was subsequently sent to the Ghanaian parliament in March 2016 for Ratification where it was debated by the Energy and MinesCommittee of Parliament and it received the final approval of Parliament on the 20th of October2016.

We refute absolutely and categorically state that at no time did Sahara Energy, West African Gas Limited or any of its Affiliates or Agents offer any inducement of any kind to any Government officials in Ghana to facilitate approval of the project.

We are unable to comment on allegations in the online publication that there are/were other competing projects for the supply of Gas and/or Power that would offer cost savings to the Ghanaian Government as we are not privy to any such proposals, discussions, their terms or circumstances nor can we confirm their existence.

We also refute absolutely and categorically any allegations that we supplied a FSRU to the project before having a valid contract for the project. WAGL signed a Gas supply agreement with the Ministry of Power for the project on the 8th of October 2015. The FSRU was supplied in line with the terms of the GSA on 30th May 2016. WAGL has not commenced any debt recovery process against the Government of Ghana via the Ministry of Power.

Re: “Swiss traders’ Opaque Deals in Nigeria”, Berne Declaration

The report header states, “Sahara Energy, a documentary desert” and alludes to Sahara Group being one of the beneficiaries of the export allocation system of Nigeria’s Crude Oil sales. The report further claims that Sahara Group is nothing but a letterbox company.

 In its almost 20 years of operations, Sahara Group has grown to a company with staff strength of over 650 people.

Over this period, Sahara Group has established fully, officially registered and operational offices in Lagos, Abuja, Calabar, and Port-Harcourt in Nigeria, Accra and Tema in Ghana, Abidjan in Cote D’Ivoire, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Geneva in Switzerland, Isle of Man in the United Kingdom, and Singapore.

The Sahara Group’s operational office in Geneva Switzerland is located at 7, Quai du Mont-Blanc, 1201 Geneva and has total staff strength of 37 people. In line with Sahara Group’s corporate responsibility activities, the Geneva office has partnered with the following NGO’s towards providing Corporate Social Responsibilities activities – ESCA (English Speaking Cancer Association) and Le Care and also providing the avenue for the development of clowns on various diseases in the Hopiclowns project towards providing entertainment and relaxation for children and the elderly in hospitals.

The addresses of Sahara Group’s registered and operational offices across its various locations can be found on the Sahara Group website – www.sahara-group.com.

Swiss Traders’ Opaque Deals in Nigeria”, Berne Declaration

This is to clarify the statements in the Berne Declaration report of November 2013 that Sahara Group reimbursed N6.034 Billion to the Nigerian Government that it had received in the form of subsidy payments, the inability to justify a bank statement showing $33.7 million and being one of the companies that did not import the correct quantity of petroleum products.

 These were part of the allegations that were investigated by the committees set up in Nigeria by the National Assembly and the Presidency.

Sahara Group submitted all its documents to substantiate their claims and was not listed as one of the companies to make refunds to the Federal Government and the reports are public knowledge.

Please click on the Oil & Gas Subsidy Investigation link to access the details of the report.

The Global Newsmagazine Report – Tope Shonubi and Tonye Cole on The Run

There was a publication by a local news magazine – Global News which alleged that two of the Directors of Sahara Group Mr. Tope Shonubi and Mr. Tonye Cole had been fraudulent.

 The story was published in the Global News Edition of February 6, 2012 and July 23, 2012 with the headlines; “Corrupt Marketers Who Collected Money Without Supplying Fuel Exposed”, “Sahara Energy’s Tope Shonubi and Tonye Cole On The Run” and Aig-Imoukhuede’s Panel Fingers Self-acclaimed Pastor Tope Shonubi and Tonye Cole’s Sahara Energy in Fuel Subsidy Scam”.

Sahara Group instituted a legal action against Global Style Multi-Media Services (the publisher of Global News) and the Editor in Chief for libel. The publisher of the magazine admitted that the publication was libelous and tendered an official letter of apology to Sahara Group and its Directors as part of its obligations in seeking the terms of settlement which were eventually filed as judgment of the court.

Please click on the Global News allegations to access the details.

The Role of Sahara Group in The Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Subsidy Investigation

What was the role of Sahara Group in the Oil and Gas Industry wide petroleum subsidy investigations in Nigeria?

This was an industry wide investigation by the Committee of the National Assembly and the Presidential Task Force Committee.

As part of the investigations, all the Petroleum marketers operating in the Petroleum downstream sector were invited to provide documents towards substantiating their subsidy claims over a period.

The House of Assembly committee and the Presidential Task Force committee verified

that Sahara’s transactions were legitimate.

Please click on the Oil & Gas Subsidy Investigation link to access the details of the report.