Parliament Wednesday was the scene of battle between the Minority in the House and the Minister of Energy, Dr Oteng Adjei. The Minority, Joy FM Parliamentary Correspondent Sammy Darko reported, wanted an answer to a simple question: “Did MODEC, the builders of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah pay any money to Strategic Oil Resources Ltd”? But Mr Oteng Adjei will not give a straightforward answer dragging the issue back and forth for about 45 minutes. Last year the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank (WB) were reported to be investigating the role purportedly played by Strategic Oil and Gas Resources Ltd. (SOG), a company 50% owned by Mr. Tsatsu Tsikata, former Chief Executive of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), in the award of the FPSO contract by Tullow to MODEC in July 2008. According to the New Crusading Guide which broke the story, the IFC and the World Bank were unhappy with “MODEC's belated disclosure to [them] of the award of an advisory services contract worth $5 million to Tsatsu Tsikata's SOG company.” “MODEC's belated disclosure which was done on July 13, 2010, two clear years after the award of the contract to SOG, also indicated that MODEC (MV21) had already paid US$ 2million to SOG and a further US$ 3million was slated to be paid to it at first oil production,” the paper added. Subsequently the US authorities waded into the matter and conducted investigations into the service contract given to Strategic Oil and Gas Resources Limited. A report suggested that the contract awarded by MODEC appeared to have violated the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Now the New Patriotic Party Members of Parliament say the minister must answer to the people of Ghana if SOG was actually paid $5 million and for services rendered to MODEC. Minority Spokesperson on Energy, Mr K.T. Hammond told Sammy Darko it was disappointing and regrettable that the minister could not or rather did not answer the question. He said the Minority MPs were simply trying to ensure that the country is not shortchanged. “It is important because we want to know where our money is going. A company is supposed to have earned some money from activities involved with the construction of the FPSO; we are asking, ‘what is it that that particular company did, particularly at a time we were in government that we didn’t know, which enabled that company to earn about $5 million. We are asking simply to the minister, is he aware that such money has been paid? The minister, you heard him on the floor [of the House], suggesting that he is not aware it was only newspaper publication in a matter that the International Monetary Fund [and others have publicly spoken about],” he told Joy News. He said it was important to get to the bottom of the matter because MODEC is not going to foot the bill but the Jubilee partners which includes the GNPC. Documents on the matter suggest that the contract between MODEC and SOG was signed in 2007 when the NPP was in power but Mr Hammond who was Deputy Energy Minister at the time said, “We need to see the contract; we need to see the terms, we need to see the work [done]. Look, …my responsibility is simply to let the people of Ghana know that this money was paid to a particular company for work done and the money deserves to be paid. It’s as simple as that!” The Adansi/Asokwa MP said, he is surprised that the minister was not aware of a "matter which the whole world knows. The only person who doesn’t know in this world [about this matter] is the minister!” Sammy Darko said the Speaker of Parliament Mrs Joyce Bamford-Addo moved on when the stand-off between the Minority and the Energy Minister showed no signs of abeyance. Story by Malik Abass Daabu/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana