Controversy to date continues to trail the award of pipelines surveillance contract to Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (SSNL), a company owned by Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, predominantly referred to by his sobriquet, Tompolo.
Mr Emmanuel Jakpa, a Lead Consultant to Tantita in a statement on Tuesday in Warri was forced to respond to recent comments credited to a group, under the aegis of the “Academy of International Affairs”, a league of ex-ministers and ex-diplomats.
Against the position of the Academy, Jakpa averred that the contract has helped in securing the nation’s oil resources through the discoveries of mind-boggling oil theft covering crude oil and petroleum products.
According to him, the Academy had in a statement called on President Muhammadu Buhari to terminate the pipeline security surveillance contract awarded to the Tantita SSNL.
The statement was issued by the President of the Academy and a former Minister of External Affairs, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi.
Recall that Federal Government had sometimes in August 2022 awarded the N48 billion pipeline surveillance contract to Tantita SSNL, the privately-owned company associated with Mr Tompolo.
The Academy had also urged the Federal Government to institute a Judicial Board of Inquiry into oil theft covering crude oil and petroleum products among others in the country.
“It is an exercise in futility to ask some of those suspects involved in oil theft scandal to go round in search of illegal pipelines and oil criminals.
“Tantita SSNL will only present a wishy-washy report that will absolve them from any blame given the antecedence of such private interest in insurgency and militancy in the Niger Delta.
“Rhetorically, is it not a big shame that a private company, Tantita SSNL had to be employed when Nigeria’s security failed.
“President Buhari should institute a Judicial Board of Inquiry into oil theft in Nigeria covering crude oil and petroleum products and among others,” the Academy had said.
Reacting, Jakpa said that Tantita had made mind boggling discoveries about oil theft which has not been refuted by anybody and certainly not the Academy.
“The comment that the award to Tantita SSNL is somehow proof of failure of governance is misconceived and predicated on a faulty premise.
“Few days ago, a little known, but distinguished body, stepped out of the closet and launched an unprovoked attacked on the widely successful surveillance contract awarded to Tantita.
“But, in attacking Tompolo and the good work that Tantita is doing, they shied away from deploying their undoubtedly massive reach in proposing a solution to the hydra-headed problem of oil theft.
“The din arising from calls for the cancellation of this contract continues to rise in spite of the fact that the contract has already justified itself with the big finds of humongous leakages in our petroleum export architecture.
“Will a judicial panel visit the creeks unaided and find the export lines by themselves? The manner of argumentation by these distinguished academicians leaves so much to be desired, it appears to be self-defeating,” he said.
Jakpa said that the fundamental error in the analysis of the group was the notion that awarding a pipeline surveillance contract to a private entity was “a failure of governance” and a slur on institution like the armed forces.
He said that these types of contract had been awarded in the past to privately owned companies.
The lead consultant said that at the moment, virtually every pipeline operator has a private security company contracted to provide security to some pipelines or other production asset.
“The unsavory languages used by the distinguished diplomats in associating Ekpemupolo with the illicit trade is much to be deprecated, moreso, as they have failed to substantiate their allegations,” he said.
Jakpa said that if the Tantita Contract succeeded as fully as hoped, it would shore up the nations revenue to a 100 per cent of the present baseline going by the mind boggling discoveries.
“Even, in far away Israel the matter is being reported in their local news media. The home country of the private security company that was handed a whooping 195 million dollars contract to secure our maritime domain.
“No international affairs expert write to illuminate Nigerians on the advantages or disadvantages of a foreign private company taking responsibility for our maritime security and intelligence gathering,” he said.
