No investor can pull out $1.2 bn or any amount from Nigeria’s foreign reserves as claimed during a debate on Azura power plant deal signed in 2013, a top presidency official has said.
The official, in a statement on Sunday, said government officials would be communicating with the Senate to clarify some of the misconceptions that featured during the Senate proceeding.
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He said Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the immediate past Power Minister Babatunde Fashola neither featured in the agreement nor signed any contract as they were not in office when the agreement was signed in 2013.
He stated: Records show that the Power Purchase Agreement or PPA for the transaction in question was signed on April 22, 2013, during the tenure of the then President Goodluck Jonathan.
“No investor can just pull out $1.2bn or any amount from Nigeria’s foreign reserve like that. Yes, there was a Put/Call Agreement signed with Azura on October 22, 2014 whereby Nigeria reserved the option to buy over the assets or the company to give up the assets and seek payment, if Azura defaults.
“However, the amount to be paid can only be determined when the option is exercised and nobody can simply pull out money from our foreign reserves just like that.
“The Presidential Power Reform Transaction, which was headed by Osibanjo when the deal was struck obligated Nigeria to pay between $30m and $33m monthly to Azura for power for powers generated, even if not dispatched.
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