Published 4th Jun, 2022

By Joseph Adeiye

Alexander Orji, a Lagos-based business consultant, has accused Seven Oceans Oil and Gas Limited, an oil and gas company he says is owned by Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum, of refusing to pay him $166,000 in compensation for his services after exiting the company in 2020.

In an interview with FIJ, Orji also accused Simbi Kesiye Wabote, the executive secretary of Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), of failing to probe Seven Oceans over its refusal to honour the agreement that saw him work for the company.

Orji, an independent consultant in the oil and gas sector, was employed by Seven Oceans in 2019 and given the task of securing contracts for the company.

THE ENGAGEMENT

“Seven Oceans got me engaged in 2019 as a consultant. The company is into oil and gas. They engaged me fully with a letter. At the time they brought me in, they were already bidding for a contract. They were on the third stage of the bid when they got me to take over the task,” Orji said.

“When I was assigned the task, I was told to ensure that the company secured the bid.”

Orji's letter of engagement. — Orji’s letter of engagement.

Orji added that the terms of the contract with Seven Oceans included a one per cent remuneration on every contract won and a clause to compensate him if the project was halted.

“During the engagement they said I was entitled to one per cent of the proceeds. I accepted the offer with a condition because I know what it takes to work in the oil and gas industry,” Orji said.

“I gave the condition that if I’m on this particular thing and I have been able to achieve something, and for any reason we stop (halfway) because they failed to finance it, I would still be compensated and the company accepted. This happened on October 11, 2020.”

After contract agreements were sorted out, Orji said he handled the bidding process for Seven Oceans, alleging that the company gave a bribe of $11,000 to officials of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to pass the technical stage of the bid.

THE FALLING-OUT

“We gave the NNPC guys the money officially and they were happy. The money was handed to them when we met at the hotel. Three days later, we successfully passed the technical stage of the bid,” Orji told FIJ.

“Problem started in 2020 when the company kept on saying they would pay me but refused to do so. Later, after several calls and disagreements, they started threatening me.

“Meanwhile, they were already owing me a total of $166,000.

“On March 26 2020, I was not sacked, I was not queried; I resigned. After I resigned, I didn’t hear anything from them again. They did not also write to acknowledge my resignation. The only thing I saw was the overall MD writing in an email I was copied in and asking the director if he had responded to my mail. That was the last I heard after resigning.

“After waiting for three months without getting any response, I engaged a lawyer to write to them in June 2020. When we wrote to them, they still didn’t respond. We wrote a reminder in July, they then responded and threatened me.

“They said that I should return $5,500 to them, and if I fail to return the money they will sue me within 7 days. We responded and asked them to go ahead. We also questioned who they gave the money to and what the money was for. They did not respond.

Orji's appeal to NCDMB — Orji’s appeal to NCDMB

Letter from the lawyer demanding for Orji's payment.

” The NCDMB monitors Nigerian Content Compliance by operators and service providers. They are supposed to protect workers or employees’ interests within the oil and gas industry too. But they seem to be supporting what Seven Oceans is doing to me.”

SEVEN OCEAN’S SIDE OF THE STORY

When FIJ contacted Leo Abulokwe, Executive Director of Seven Oceans, he denied all the claims made by Orji. Abulokwe stated that Orji misused company funds and then submitted a resignation letter without a prior notice.

“Orji’s claims are nothing but figments of his own imagination,” Abulokwe said.

“He fraudulently converted company funds in his possession as a facilitator for the Company to private use and has refused to pay us back till this day.

“Also, Orji never delivered any contract to our company. We did not also secure any contract through his efforts; both of which are preconditions for a one per cent success fee he could have received.”

Abulokwe told FIJ that Seven Oceans has filed a lawsuit against Orji at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria on the issue.

FIJ also made several phone calls to Simbi Kesiye Wabote, the executive secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), but they were not answered. The text message sent to him had not also been responded to at press time.

Share on Social Media