The Osun state government has stated that irregularities within the agreement made between NNPCL and OSICOL is responsible for review of the agreement.
This was contained in a statement by Taofik Kolawole Alimi, Managing Director, Osun State Investment Company and made available to Osun Spring in Osogbo, the Osun state capital.
Alimi noted that the decision came after a new management of the company, in line with best practices did a general review of the businesses and all contractual agreements considering the poor state of the business and to shore up the revenue base of the state.
The statement reads “It has come to our notice some mischievous information being peddled on social media concerning the planned termination of the lease agreement between our company Osun State Investment Company Limited, the owner of the Mega Station at Abere, Osun State and NNPCL.
“Osun State Investment Company Limited, a limited liability company set up under the Company and Allied Matters Act entered into a 10-year leasing agreement with NNPCL in 2018 for the running of the company’s newly built Mega Station at Abere.
“The new management of the company, in line with best practices did a general review of the businesses and all contractual agreements considering the poor state of the business and to shore up the revenue base.
“This is how we discovered to our dismay that the leasing contractual agreements done was lopsided in favour of the Lesee and our company at a financial disadvantage. It’s like the notorious P&ID contract. Those that did the agreement from our side must have agreed to the poor terms for reasons best known to them but definitely not in the interest of either the company, state or the citizens.
“Very ridiculous money was paid for the ten years’ leasing, with NOTHING coming to the company either monthly or annually. And out of this paltry sum, OSICOL is still the one paying the annual insurance on the property.
“The mega station is also poorly operated as they hardly have petrol to sell to the people. Most times, sales are done through one pump with long queues of buyers.
“After our letter, as expected, the local management of NNPC had a meeting with us and promised to have a second look at the agreement and come up with favorable terms that would ensure a win-win situation between the two organisations. So, the issue of selling is in the figment of the imagination of the social media servants of those that have been exploiting our organisation in the past five years.
“Those that benefited from the previous terms are the ones that are jittery and paying for this campaign of calumny.”
