Refund US$3.8 million spent on Ghana-Cote d’Ivoire ruling to GNPC – PIAC to government

It was wrong for the state to have used GNPC’s resources to settle cost of Ivory Coast dispute, PIAC

Refund would enable GNPC mobilise funds, PIAC

GNPC spends $11.85 million on Maritime Boundary related activities

The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has asked government to refund the $3.8 million spent by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on the Ghana Côte d’Ivoire Maritime Boundary dispute.

The Ghana-La Côte d'Ivoire maritime boundary dispute which flared up in 2010, is a territorial dispute over the ownership of known natural resources in the territorial sea.

However, the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in 2017 unanimously ruled that Ghana did not violate the rights of the Ivory Coast in oil exploration within and beyond 200 nm (nautical miles).

PIAC noted that it was not in the right for GNPC’s resources to be used to settle the cost of the litigation amounting to $3.8 million.

This according to PIAC is because the dispute was between two sovereign states and not between a sovereign state and a state oil firm.

Speaking to some selected journalists at a media engagement in the Volta Region, a member of PIAC, Alhaj Suleman Ahmad Anderson, said the amount spent should be refunded to GNPC.

“What we’re saying is that, government should take responsibility of such expenditures and must not be in the books of the national oil company because GNPC is just a partner in the field and not the state”.

“We are still pursuing the funds to ensure that the right thing is done as a country learning from the best practices,” he added.

Additionally, PIAC stated that refunding the $3.8million to GNPC will help it mobilize funds for its core mandate whiles taking up other exploration activities such as the ongoing works on the Voltarian Basin and the West Cape Three Points.

GNPC has however spent a total of $11.85 million on Maritime Boundary related activities.