Akanni Blair
April 23 ,2021
-denies kickback allegation
Implicated by Aaron’s Royality Inc. (ARI) as one of two officials at Guyoil from whom it received commitments for a fuel supply contract, Guyana Oil Company (Guyoil) Board member Akanni Blair yesterday said he approached the company after a directive and then discovered that now resigned General Manager Trevor Bassoo was already separately negotiating with it.
Blair, who is a representative of A New and United Guyana (ANUG) on the board, is now claiming that it was he who notified the Chairman of the Board that he learned from ARI that two other company officials were negotiating the supply of fuel. Blair’s version of how the issue unfolded now contradicts that of Bassoo.
In an interview with Stabroek News yesterday on his role in the matter, Blair said that all he was guilty of was poor judgement by trying to help, on a directive of the board, when he and the Finance Officer of Guyoil had approached the company. However, they were told that Bassoo had already engaged a member of ARI’s staff, in California, USA, to have discussions with the company.
“I will state categorically that has never happened,” Blair said on allegations of there being a commitment to the company of a contract to supply fuel as well as on demanding kickbacks from ARI.
“The surprising thing that shook me and why I called the Chairman is that Aaron’s Royality said that we were the third set of people from Guyoil that was engaging about the same fuel and he would have already gotten the specs, which he showed on the phone, about the fuel, and he was also told the price for which he was supposed to charge this fuel for,” he added.
Blair said that he and a company official “immediately went to the Chairman and said exactly what transpired”.
On Tuesday, ARI’s principal, Jayson Aaron, claimed that the company was now left with a large quantity of fuel on hand after commitments were made by company officials that Guyoil would buy it. He claims that he has evidence of the commitments by officials of the company who also tried to solicit kickbacks in return.
Guyoil denied the allegations and Senior Minister with responsibility for Finance Dr Ashni Singh requested that the Auditor General investigate while sounding a warning that corruption will not be tolerated.
On the same day Bassoo notified that he had resigned. On the next day, Bassoo told this newspaper that it was not he who entered into any agreement with ARI, and he was only made aware of the matter when ARI complained of non-payment.
Bassoo, who has welcomed an investigation into the matter, has also said that it was he who alerted the board regarding the issue. He has said his immediate resignation is unrelated to the situation.
At the same time, ARI threatened court action over alleged verbal promises and gave the state-owned oil company 48 hours to honour them. In a letter to Guyoil’s Board Chairman, Paul Cheong, attorney representing ARI, Dexter Todd, said the company was seeking an amicable settlement and requested that Guyoil honour the commitments allegedly made.
The letter named Blair and Finance Official Shawn Persaud as two persons it had allegedly reached a verbal agreement with.
This newspaper yesterday tried contacting Persaud but efforts were futile as the numbers provided both at the office and his mobile were not answered.
Persaud, this newspaper has learnt, has already visited the Guyana Police Force to clear his name.
‘Engage the supplier’
Giving his account of the events, Blair said that Guyoil had received a new contract to supply the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) with a large amount for a period.
He said that Guyoil’s first tranche to GPL was scheduled to be delivered on March 10, 2021 and it was noted by the Board that it could not be met.
Since taking up directorship on the State Board, Blair said that persons would approach or contact him about supplying fuel and other related issues and ask his help but he would point them to the company. He, however, would also tell the Board that persons had enquired about doing business with Guyoil.
After being in a Board meeting and learning that Guyoil was behind schedule with its delivery to GPL, he said that the Chairman asked him to look into soliciting a supplier who had the capacity to deliver. “I am a Director on the Board and different people would call and I would say ‘You have to get engaged with the management.’ Time to time, people from Trinidad would have called and that sort of thing. People know. Friends would say ‘Akanni is on a State Board,’” he explained.
“After we couldn’t make the deadline. Chairman said, ‘Blair you talk about people who have the potential to provide and we were looking for an emergency supplier.’ He said engage the supplier,” he added.
Blair said that he remembered a friend who had called him on Good Friday of this year and told him of a Trinidad and Tobago supplier and he engaged them. However, they could not make the deadline and that company referred them to a local supplier, which turned out to be ARI.
He immediately notified Persaud, as “he was the person leading those charges as Financial Officer.”
“I called and said I have someone who [has] the ability. In the rush, he said, ‘Why don’t we seek this person out? We found out the person is Aaron Royality. Shawn and Mr. Aaron engaged in a conversation. Mr. Persaud told him we are looking for an emergency supplier and should you [ARI] reach the specification, you would be given a spot voyage contract. We left Aaron’s Royality and went to the Chairman,” he said.
It was during that conversation that ARI’s principal informed, according to Blair, of Bassoo’s role.
Believing that ARI had the capacity to deliver, the Board of Guyoil called its principal in for a meeting to discuss the specifications and terms of procurement, Blair related.
“Certain things were outlined to Mr. Aaron of what was needed. It was said then, ‘If you met this then that, and only then we would engage. We have to do our due diligence and so on’. In the process of the due diligence, we learned that Aaron had multiple fraud charges and we started to disconnect in terms of communication,” Blair said.
He said that no one from the company told ARI that Guyoil was no longer interested in doing business with it because of it had discovered the charges and he [Blair] felt too embarrassed to do so on his own. By this time, ARI had said that it had the fuel on hand and needed to know where to deliver.
“After he couldn’t get Shawn, he started texting me asking me for coordinates and I said you will have to get that from Inventory Manager. I was trying to get him off lightly. I didn’t want to say your fraud charges or whatever…,” he said in reference to multiple charges previously laid against Aaron.
Realising that Guyoil was no longer interested, Blair said, ARI then started complaining and news of the matter went public.
Blair, a contractor by profession, said that while he has no experience in the operations of a fuel entity, he felt the experience would be good and he also felt the “need to serve.”
As for his party, through which he came to get the Board position, Blair said that he spoke to its Chairman, Timothy Jonas, on the matter. “Mr. Jonas basically said that it should have never occurred. I told him I became involved because I saw the need to get this thing moving,” he said.
He lamented that as he reflected on his actions he feels he was only guilty of trying to help and that his actions were wrong. He believes it will serve as a lesson for him. He welcomed the police investigation, which he believes will exonerate him. “I just hope that everyone involved name is cleared and we learn from that nasty experience and never have to relive those,” he said.