The National Assembly lawmakers, on Thursday, asked the management of the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) to stop further variation of the $4.451 billion Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) project 7.
The National Assembly Joint Committee on Gas took the resolution following the insistence of the NLNG officials led by NLNG Project Director, Ali Uwais, not to make available to the Committee detailed information on the project.
Uwais has submitted a document containing what the lawmakers called limited information.
Chairman of the joint committee, Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe specifically took exception to a clause in the document, which stated clearly that “figures contained therein are disputed and subject to ongoing legally privileged commercial negotiations”.
Expressing his disaffection, Jarigbe said the import of the clause was that figures could not be used for the investigation.
The lawmakers subsequently resolved to make their requests known to the NLNG, stating that the document and other information were needed.
After two closed-door sessions, the lawmakers expressed strong reservations over the refusal of the NLNG and the contractors not making useful information available for the investigation.
Investigation revealed that the area of controversy included inadequate document on the original contract sum which was $4,372,760,462.
Others are limited information on the 99 total variation requests worth $177,892,289; approved 62 variation orders amounting to $43,771,475; and approved amendments (claims/settlement) worth $35,000,000.
The NLNG had informed the committee that five variation requests are being evaluated and they amounted to $7,609,678.
Uwais also told the committee that the fluctuation in foreign exchange rates is a principal cause of contract variation.
On the status of the project, he said: “The overall progress of the project is at 67% completion, made up of engineering at 97.9%, procurement at 95.5% and construction at 52.5%.
The Committee adjourned to reconvene on July 3, 2024.
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