Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Mines and Energy committee, Hon. John Abdulai Jinapor has disclosed that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), was not forthright with the censure motion ad hoc committee when GNPC appeared before the committee yesterday.
The NDC MP advised the Deputy CEO of GNPC, Mr. Joseph Dadzie, the man who spoke on behalf of GNPC at the ad hoc committee sitting, to desist from peddling falsehood.
“I’m not surprised that GNPC was struggling because they were not being forthright and my first advice to Mr. Dadzie is that he should be very conscious. He is under oath and if he peddles falsehood and deliberately does so, that is perjury.
“Secondly, he shouldn’t forget that he will appear before the Mines and Energy committee. This is just a fact finding committee and whatever he says there can go against him.”
John Jinapor, MP
The Yapei Kusawgu Legislator opined that GNPC’s explanation that some oil revenues are paid to Jubilee Oil Holding Limited (JOHL) and not directly into the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF), was not true.
He disclosed that, unlike what the Deputy CEO of GNPC told the ad hoc committee, GNPC had initially told the Mines and Energy committee of Parliament that, JOHL was a temporal company and that it had no intention of keeping JOHL.
“GNPC appeared before the Mines and Energy committee and they were categorical that they did not intend keeping JOHL. In fact, they [GNPC] told us that they wanted to buy the shares directly but Hannah Darko told them that in order to transfer the shares, they needed to establish JOHL as an offshore company and so that company was nothing but a special purpose vehicle to serve as a receptacle to take the shares and transfer it to GNPC.”
John Jinapor, MP
Moreover, John Jinapor was very emphatic about what the law says on petroleum transactions. “The law, Act 815; Section 3, says the payment should be made into the Petroleum Holding Fund,” Jinapor noted.
With the law as his premise, he argued that even if JOHL was still in existence, all monies were supposed to be paid into the PHF.
“If it [oil revenues] belongs to the company and is for Ghana, you pay it into the Petroleum Holding Fund because that’s what the law says,” he said.
The Ranking Member on the Energy and Mines committee, stated categorically that the revenues where not paid at all.
“The State did not even pay the money. The shares were paid in lieu of capital gain tax which should have also been paid in the Petroleum Holding Fund. So GNPC can attempt to dribble anybody but they won’t dribble some of us.”
John Jinapor, MP
GNPC’s Appearance Before Ad hoc Committee
Yesterday, November 17, 2022, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) represented by its Deputy CEO in charge of Commerce and Business strategy, Mr. Joseph Dadzie, appeared before the Parliamentary ad hoc censure motion committee.
In brief, the Deputy CEO of GNPC, sought to debunk the testimony of the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC) which had appeared before the ad hoc committee early on.
Mr. Dadzie claimed that part of oil revenues were paid to the Jubilee Oil Holding Limited (JOHL), a subsidiary of GNPC which is a full fledged company on its own and so it’s in charge of how it disburses its funds.
He claimed that, PIAC’s position that all of revenues accrued from oil transactions are to be paid into the PHF was not the case as part of the monies gotten, are paid to JOHL.
He said that profits made by JOHL are paid to GNPC which intends put the monies into the PHF.
“At the end of the day if it [JOHL] declares profit and the Directors decide that dividends must be paid; that money is paid to GNPC [and the money paid to GNPC] of course will be paid into the Petroleum Holding Fund.”
Joseph Dadzie, Dep. CEO -GNPC
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