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Emeka Offor: Nobody can frighten me • Senator: That's very rude
From Kola Ologbondiyan in Abuja, 11.24.2004

Members of the Senate Committe on Petroleum Resources (Downstream sector) which is holding a pre-public hearing investigation into the awards of contracts for the turn around maintenance of the nation’s refineries yesterday engaged chairman of one of the companies handling the contract, Chief Emeka Offor of Chrome Energy Consortium in bitter verbal exchange.
Offor who was accompanied to the hearing by Chrome’s project manager, Dr. Mircea Fourtos fired the first salvo while responding to the request by Senator Abiola Ajumobi for a written report how Chrome got the contract, the worth of the contract compared to the job done and whether due process was followed in the award of the contract.
Offor reacted sharply thus: “I’ve to make certain observations known. I’m a Nigerian and I want to see that refineries work so that the hardship being suffered by Nigerians come to pass because that is the wish of every government in power.
“I will not be called a name or be ridiculed by anybody here. I saw the letter you wrote to me and I had to cancel my appointment elsewhere. I don’t think there could have been more sacrifice than that.
“We are not magicians so we we don’t know what you need. We are not going to write any report on this or that. NNPC will make the cost of the contract available to you. Nobody can frighten me in this country. I’m a Nigerian but these people (Chrome expatriates) may not be Nigerians but I can’t be intimidated. We should ask questions as human beings.”
Ajumobi, however, countered that “you don’t talk to us like that. That is rude, that is very rude and you have to withdraw that statement.”
Offor then withdrew the statement while Senator Emmanuel Agboti advised the Chrome chairman that “writing a report is not an indictment but to enable you explain yourself. That you are writing a report in itself is not incriminating.”
Senator Ajumobi had advised the Chrome management to conceptualise its report to the committee within the context of the technical, the commercial, and the political.
“What you should respond to is what Nigerians are saying, which some of us believe and others don’t that Nigeria has been cheated not only in the refineries contracts but National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) also.
“We need to know and give a clean bill so we need details. The areas we should be talking about are, was the contract given?; was the worth accurate or too much?; did the contract go though due process?; these are the areas we need to know”, Ajumobi said.
Agboti also said, “We wrote NNPC and asked them to furnish us with the contractors that did the turn around maintenance. We have invited you first but we have also written asking for terms from NNPC which include the scope of the contract if there was any.
“You can make a case at the public hearing (that would be held). You can kick anybody but don’t kick the senators who are representing the people,” Agboti added.
Offor quickly noted that “may be I was not very composed while I was speaking. The question that Senator Okoro asked, we brought this (compendium), he (Okoro) said we should do a report. We had expected Shell and NNPC to be here to corroborate our own position. I can’t come here with fictitious things.
“The scope of work in one unit can fill a carton. How do you study that but there are vital things you need.
“If you asked question on line it’s easy but if you ask for report, we may give you another thing that would require five consultants to explain.
“Talking about warranty is like taking a car to the mechanic after which the car was given to a bad driver that later hit the car. Is that the fault of the mechanic? People learn everyday and by calling us here, you are supposed to learn from me.”
Chrome’s Project Manager, Fourtos, however agreed to make a “brief report” at the next invitation but stressed that NNPC issued a certificate that our project was completed in May 2001.”
The Committee’s action was predicated upon “the receipt of petitions from Nigerian people on the position of their refineries” in which Chrome Energy Consortium was named as having carried out the turn around maintenance.
Senator Agboti in his opening remarks, stated that “we have no doubts that Chrome has done some jobs in the refineries. But the nation is encountering problems in fuel. The question is who turned the refineries around and this question has become recurrent decimal.”
“We are here to help Chrome and we also expect Chrome to help this committee at uncovering this question. The public opinion is that those who did the turn around maintenance have not been good. If we do a good job, we would be able to stem the tide.
“The first thing that Nigerians want to know is what happened to the refineries and once the refineries are working the prices of petroleum products would be forced down. We have visited the refineries and whatever we say here is public and we would also turn the result of this investigation to the Senate.
“Nigerians want to know the scope, duration and the level of the job performed on the refineries by Chrome. How the contract was awarded and when as well as the level of performance.”
Offor, however, directed Chrome’s Fourtos to brief the committee. Fourtos, whose explanation was very technical, noted that before the contract was awarded to Chrome by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the turn around maintenance had not been carried out for upward of 10 years.
He explained that Chrome carried out maintenance and rehabilitation of both the old and new Port Harcourt Refineries but lamented that at the point of take-over there was high level corrossion due to humidity.
“The compressor, one of the most important segments was also blocked. Inside one of the pumps was high corrosion. Mr. Chairman, in one of the compressors, the blade was chopped off,” Fourtos said among other several technical issues.
According to him, “the mechanical completion of each individual area means that NNPC commissioned the plant. There is a liability pending which we would be responsible. If there is no defect, a completion certificate would not be issued.
“For the first time, the NNPC employed a consultant which is Shell Development Petroleum Company and whatever activity performed by the contractor was inspected, assessed and approved by Shell.
“In 1998, when NNPC did the turn around maintenance, it was to serve for six years. The (last) Senate Committee on Petroleum was invited to see how the job was done and (Senator David) Brigidi came and commended the performance that we had done three turn around maintenance in one.”
But a member of the committee, Senator John Danboyi (PDP, Nassarawa) interjected that “what Nigerians want to know is the stage of the plant today; what was the scope of work when the contract was awarded?; what was the completion period?; at what cost was the contract awarded?; are the areas of breakdown part of the scope of work?; if the refinery was to produce 40,000 barrels and there was need to expand to 60,000 barrels is that the situation today?; and, why has govenment plans not been achieved today?
“Nigerians are crying that the refineries are not working. What he (Fourtos) is talking about does not make meaning here,” he said. These questions were further expanded by Senator Fidelis Okoro (PDP, Enugu) who asked why NNPC was not represented “because what we are seeing is certificate of completion and affirmation certificates. They would play major roles at the public hearing. We need to know the scope as well as the certificates that have been duly signed.
“The problem in the country today is petrol and if the refineries are working, we will not have this problem.
“I want you to come up with a scope and a written report. What you (Fourtos) are telling us does not respond to why the refineries are not working. All what you are talking about is technical,” Okoro submitted.
Senator Oserheimen Osunbor (PDP, Edo) also noted that there is need to address “the general concern of Nigerians on the refineries and the turn around maintenance that took place before we need to know what happened.
“Nigerians are asking what has happened as inspite of the billions of dollars expended by the Federal Government, there has been no results. This is the concern of Nigerians and our concern. Since Chrome is being mentioned, we needed to meet with you and know whether you were really involved. We want to be authoritative about what we are hearing.
“We have heard information about the beginning of the contracts but we need to know the terms of the contract which we expect you to tell us the cost, scope, warranty or guarantee so that if the period has not expired, we may hold Chrome accountable and if it had completed its term, we would explain that to Nigerians.
“The pictures (shown by Chrome) here confirm that we have not been taking maintenance serious enough in the country. But the contractors should have assessed the level of decay before accepting the execution of the contracts. So, pictures are not relevant here.
“The NNPC and Shell would need to be here when next we meet. What documents to supply and if there are other parties that we need to know, you can give us the names,” Osunbor said.

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