The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has criticized the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government for allegedly taking credit for the recent Akoma and Eban-1X oil discoveries, which the NPP claims were achieved under the previous Akufo-Addo administration.
At a press conference held on behalf of the Minority in Parliament, Member of Parliament for Afigya Kwabre North and Ranking Member on the Energy Committee, Collins Adomako-Mensah, asserted that the two discoveries were made in 2019 and 2021, respectively, when Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was president.
According to Mr. Adomako-Mensah, ENI Ghana, the operator of the Cape Three Points (CTP) Block 4, formally notified the Ministry of Energy, the Petroleum Commission, and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) of the discoveries in line with the terms of the petroleum agreement.
“ENI, as required by the CTP Block 4 Petroleum Agreement, formally issued two separate notices of discovery to the then Ministry of Energy, the Petroleum Commission, and the GNPC,” he explained, adding that the discoveries were publicly reported by sections of the Ghanaian media at the time.
He accused the Mahama administration of attempting to mislead the public by claiming credit for work it did not initiate or oversee.
“The Minority finds it disingenuous that the Mahama government, which played no role in drilling the Akoma and Eban exploration wells or approving the appraisal programmes, now seeks to claim the commercial success of these efforts as its own,” he said.
Adomako-Mensah emphasized that, under Ghana’s petroleum regime, it is the contractor or operator—not the government—that is responsible for reporting the results of appraisal programmes. “This is exactly what ENI has done,” he said.
He further criticized the current administration for using the announcement for political gain.
“For purely self-serving reasons, the Mahama government has turned a standard industry update into a political celebration, despite being in office for barely seven months,” he stated.
The NPP Minority maintains that the achievements should be rightfully attributed to the previous government, which they argue laid the groundwork for the discoveries.
