The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has charged government to refund the $3.8 million spent by the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) on the Ghana Côte d'Ivoire Maritime Boundary dispute that took place few years ago.

According to PIAC, the dispute was between two sovereign states and not between a sovereign state and a state oil firm, saying, it was wrong for the state to have used GNPC’s resources to settle the cost of the litigation.

GNPC spent $3.8 million on the secretariat activities of the Ghana – Cote d’Ivoire Maritime Boundary Dispute which was determined in 2017 at the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

Speaking to some selected Journalists at a media engagement in the Volta Region, a member of PIAC, Alhaj Suleman Ahmad Anderson, said the amount of $3.8 million spent by GNPC on the litigation should therefore 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.

The engagement with the media was to create a platform for both PIAC members and Journalists better appreciate some findings and recommendations in the 2021 annual report which is the 21st report on the oil and gas industry, since the establishment of the committee.

PIAC believes the refund would enable the state oil exploration firm to mobilise funds for its core mandate and take up other exploration activities such as the ongoing works on the Voltarian Basin and the West Cape Three Points.

As it stands now, GNPC has spent a total of $11.85 million on Maritime Boundary related activities.