The Minority in Parliament has called on the government to immediately transfer shares held by Jubilee Holdings Limited (JOHL) to the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC).
The Minority said it was concerned about the management of JOHL assets.
A statement signed by the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, said the JOHL revenues are currently being used as a “slush fund” to pursue all manner of businesses that Parliament has not approved under the usual GNPC budget approval process.
“The recent lodgment of $100 million of oil revenues in the accounts of JOHL which sparked concerns about the state being deprived of taxes accruing from these revenues, lends credence to our concerns.”
“By this statement, the Minority calls on the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia NPP government to transfer the shares held by JOHL to GNPC without delay, in order that Ghanaians can be assured that appropriate oversight is being exercised on these assets by Parliament and other stakeholders,” the statement said.
This, the Minority said, will go a long way to ensure proper accountability and effective monitoring of the revenues accruing from our petroleum resources.
The statement added that the Minoritwouldll also file an urgent question for clarification upon the assumption of Parliament.
This comes after the Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, claimed that GNPC, under the chairmanship of Freddie Blay, is working on a transaction to relinquish about 50% of the shares of Jubilee Oil Holdings Limited to PetroSA, the state-owned oil company of South Africa.
Dr Prempeh insisted the move was not in the interest of Ghana, as the nation would lose revenue and therefore asked Mr Blay to withdraw the offer immediately.
Meanwhile, Mr Blay vehemently denied accusations of involvement in such a transaction, calling the allegations unequivocally false and misleading.
Below is the full statement by the Minority