Dr. Adedeji characterized the allegations, which claim a $279 million transfer from the Fund’s account to unnamed private accounts, as calculated "fake news" and a sponsored attempt at character assassination.
The controversial reports had further alleged that the supposed fraud had placed the FIRS boss under immense pressure, with unnamed stakeholders calling for a forensic audit of the Fund’s accounts.
Reacting to the development, Dr. Adedeji informed ITREALMS Online that the report is entirely false and based solely on the imagination of individuals determined to tarnish his reputation and the hard-earned corporate image of the FIRS.
“That report is not true in any way. It is pure fake news sponsored by some jobless persons whose pastime is to throw mud at high performers in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's government. I consider it to be a brand of cheap journalism lacking in ethics and professionalism but heavy with malicious intentions,” Adedeji asserted.
To support his claim that the story was an orchestrated smear campaign, the FIRS Chairman pointed to the uniformity of the reporting across several minor online platforms.
“To prove to you that it was sponsored, take a critical look at the storyline and the language used. They are identical in style in all the reports, meaning that one person wrote it and distributed it across gullible online platforms,” he noted.
Dr. Adedeji emphasized that the sponsors of the malicious report exhibited a gross lack of understanding regarding the nature of the Frontier Exploration Fund, its statutory purpose, and its disbursement mechanism.
Providing technical clarity, he explained that the Frontier Exploration Fund was established under the provisions of Section 9 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021. Its sole legal purpose is to finance petroleum exploration activities in frontier basins where commercially viable hydrocarbon reserves have yet to be fully established.
Currently, these frontier basins include the Bida Basin, Benue Trough, Anambra Basin, Chad Basin, Sokoto Basin, and the Dahomey Basin.
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The controversial reports had further alleged that the supposed fraud had placed the FIRS boss under immense pressure, with unnamed stakeholders calling for a forensic audit of the Fund’s accounts.
Reacting to the development, Dr. Adedeji informed ITREALMS Online that the report is entirely false and based solely on the imagination of individuals determined to tarnish his reputation and the hard-earned corporate image of the FIRS.
“That report is not true in any way. It is pure fake news sponsored by some jobless persons whose pastime is to throw mud at high performers in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's government. I consider it to be a brand of cheap journalism lacking in ethics and professionalism but heavy with malicious intentions,” Adedeji asserted.
To support his claim that the story was an orchestrated smear campaign, the FIRS Chairman pointed to the uniformity of the reporting across several minor online platforms.
“To prove to you that it was sponsored, take a critical look at the storyline and the language used. They are identical in style in all the reports, meaning that one person wrote it and distributed it across gullible online platforms,” he noted.
Dr. Adedeji emphasized that the sponsors of the malicious report exhibited a gross lack of understanding regarding the nature of the Frontier Exploration Fund, its statutory purpose, and its disbursement mechanism.
Providing technical clarity, he explained that the Frontier Exploration Fund was established under the provisions of Section 9 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021. Its sole legal purpose is to finance petroleum exploration activities in frontier basins where commercially viable hydrocarbon reserves have yet to be fully established.
Currently, these frontier basins include the Bida Basin, Benue Trough, Anambra Basin, Chad Basin, Sokoto Basin, and the Dahomey Basin.
ITREALMS Online gathered that by law, the Fund is restricted for use on essential exploration expenses, including geological mapping, seismic surveys, exploratory drilling, appraisal wells, and comprehensive basin studies.
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