By Omar Bah
The Gambia’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Papa Njie has described as “false” allegations that he is leading negotiations for a petroleum deal on behalf of The Gambia.
The Standard is in receipt of a write-up from opposition sources that the Gambia Government, through the country’s High Commissioner to Nigeria Papa Njie, is negotiating with a Gambian businessman [name withheld] to seek petroleum aid of 200 thousand metric tons from the government of Nigeria.
According to sources, Njie and the businessman will receive D800, 000 from the proceeds of sale to be diverted to President Barrow’s campaign funding.
“The Ministry of Energy has reportedly refused to be used in the operation and allegedly referred Papa Njie to the Office of the Secretary General for due process via cabinet. The Ministry of Energy wants the process to be put through open tender and not single sourcing,” a source claimed.
However, when contacted for comments, the Gambia’s High Commissioner in Nigeria, Mr Njie said: “All the allegations are false and do not add up. Gambia does not even have that storage capacity.
“It is not everything on the net we can rely on. Let them do their investigations. Sorry, not being able to give any information on this matter.”
“I honestly think the best people to contact are the Ministry of Petroleum and my line ministry, MoFA,” Njie told The Standard from his base in Nigeria. Yesterday evening, The Standard tried contacting the Minister of Petroleum Fafa Sanyang but he didn’t pick up his telephone.
