TheCable

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has described as false, reports that Maikanti Baru, its group managing director, authorised cash transfers  to the President Muhammadu Buhari campaign organisation.

The NNPC denied the allegation in a statement Ndu Ughamadu, its spokesman, issued on Friday.

According to the statement, the GMD never authorised any “phantom cash transfer” for the purpose of sponsoring publicity for Buhari ahead of the 2019 elections.

The statement said the allegation was not only “patently false but runs against the prevailing gale of transparency and accountability pervading the operations of the NNPC since the advent of the current administration”.

“The allegation is a politically-induced hallucination which has found accommodation in the subconscious of some mischievous political actors intent on dragging the corporation and its GMD into the arena of partisan political tussle,” the statement read.

‘’With no regard for the cherished investigative reporting ethos of balance and confirmation of story, the allegation, without doubt, come across as a kindergarten  execution of an ill thought political brinksmanship.

The NNPC urged well-meaning members of the public and oil and gas industry stakeholders to “disregard the phantom report”.

The corporation said the management of the NNPC under Baru is “focused on delivering the aspiration of Mr. President for the petroleum industry.”