General Hydrocarbons Limited (GHL) has said First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) has not paid its pending requests according to contract terms.
Gatekeepers News reports that GHL alleged that the bank’s failure to fulfill its obligation led to an international incident in 2023, which nearly claimed the lives of 93 people working on the oil rig.
The oil firm said this in a statement on Tuesday, in response to FBN’s allegations that GHL diverted the proceeds after off-taking crude from the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.
GHL said the drilling rig Blackford Dolphin ran out of fuel, food, and other critical supplies with 93 people on board on October 7, 2023, adding that it was a critical situation that almost led to a distress call.
The company said that both the managing director (MD) and executive director of the bank were reportedly abroad during the incident.
According to GHL; Olusegun Alebiosu, the current MD of FBN who was then the chief risk officer (CRO) acted on behalf of the managing director when GHL brought the matter to his attention.
GHL said Alebiosu called suppliers and service providers one after the other and promised to pay within three days but it didn’t even though the oil firm made emergency supplies.
In a bid to ensure the safety of life and continuing security at 75KM offshore Nigeria, GHL said it entered an irrevocable third-party payment order with one of the off-takers to pay the suppliers directly, a move that helped stabilise the operation.
It said FBN has continued to refer to its intervention as a diversion of funds without providing any evidence even after proof of payments to suppliers was subsequently provided to the bank.
GHL further said that all contracts and invoices were duly vetted and paid by FBN through their credit and risk teams, rendering any claims of “fund diversion laughable”.
The oil firm said FBN’s repeated failures to effect timely payment for invoices within the contractual framework of five days became 70 days or not at all, “a clear breach of its tripartite obligations”.
For emphasis, the letters of the agreement stipulated that “The Bank shall, where GHL has satisfied all conditions precedent to disbursement under the Facility Agreement, disburse all of or part of the Facility Amount to GHL not later than 5 (five) Business Days after GHL makes a utilisation request in accordance with the terms of the Facility Agreement”.
GHL noted that it paid the suppliers and acted to save the 93 persons onboard the rig, most of whom were foreign nationals, who had begun contacting their embassies and home governments, adding that the move was also to save Nigeria from an international incident offshore.
It said, “We will meet FBN in court with Daily Reports and log details to debunk this continuing misinformation of diversion.”
