The House of Representatives Committee on Local Content on Tuesday asked that the Managing Director of ExxonMobil appear before it to defend the alleged abuse of local content by the company.
This directive was given during a hearing on an investigation of alleged abuse of bidding, contracting, and operating processes by ExxonMobil against Nigerian-owned companies.
The probe was conducted by the House Committee on Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring led by its Chairman, Legor Idagbo.
Idagbo stated that the exercise was not to witch-hunt the International Oil Company (IOC) at the first investigative hearing of the committee.
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According to him, it is necessary to defend the interest of citizens and the country.
Idagbo said, “This investigative hearing is not a witch-hunt in any way. We are all Nigerians and what is in the best interest of our country and our citizens should be paramount in our minds.
“There is no way our indigenes would complain to us and we fold our hands and not do something about it.”
The Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, Exxon Mobil, Segun Banwo, who represented the Managing Director, however, dismissed the allegations.
After taking submissions from the stakeholders, the committee adjourned for two weeks, while directing ExxonMobil to provide documents to back their counter claims at the next sitting.
