The Federal Government on Friday accused Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria of using the tactics of intimidation to scare away investors from oil blocks where it had interest in.
Shell had obtained an order of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday to stop government from auctioning OMLs 13, 16, OPLS 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 at the 2007 Bid Round held last Friday in Abuja .
The blocks were originally allocated to the company some years ago, but the government later withdrew them on ground that they were not being exploited.
They were listed among other blocks for sale at the 2007 Bid Round.
But brushing aside the court order in an interview with our correspondent, the Minister of Energy, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, said government was not fazed by the court order.
According to him, �Some times interested parties resort to intimidation tactics. We have seen it again and again, when parties are interested and they do not have any other recourse, they just intimidate others who want to bid on the blocks.
�If we stand in contempt of court, it is for the court to charge us for contempt. That remains to be seen and that is the ultimate proof whether we were flying in the face of contempt of court or not. They will be auctioned, I hope people bid for them.�
Our correspondent learnt that over 24 bids were entered for the affected blocks during the bid round.
Daukoru also denied seeing a copy of the court order, adding that he sought the legal counsel of the Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo, and was advised that the blocks could be put up for sale.
When our correspondent called the Executive Director, External Affairs, SPDC, Mrs. Diezani Madueke, on the telephone on Sunday, she said she was out of the country and could not comment on the development.
On why the government offered the right of first refusal to Chinese, Indian and North Korean companies, Daukoru said, �Our national strategy is clear: engaging with China, South Korea and India. Sometimes it is government to government and sometimes, government just opens the way for private sector participation from those countries.
�We are getting infrastructure investment from them in sectors that are ordinarily non-commercial. You cannot consider running the railway line on a commercial proposition.�
The minister explained that because power generation was currently a major challenge in Nigeria, investing in the power sector was made a key condition for granting ROFR to any investor.
He said, �What we offer is fresh blocks, but it is not for free. You will pay the full signature bonus, the best that is placed by anybody else. All we are giving out is goodwill.
�In return, you will invest in railways, hydro electricity generation, gas trunk line that is not likely to return investment for many years to come.�
He also credited the rising foreign direct investments in Nigeria to the ROFR policy.
�Despite all the foreign trips made by President Olusegun Obasanjo and all other efforts to attract investment, we did not get any results until 2005 when we started the right of first refusal concept. That was when things began to happen.�
On why the investments by those companies were not yet visible, Daukoru said it was impracticable to expect a railway line or gas trunk line to come up in two years.