Engineer Abdirashid Ahmed claims that he traveled to Turkey to sign the controversial oil and gas deal in the company of the President of the Southwest region.
Eng. Ahmed made this claim on February 23.
Recently, Eng. Ahmed announced the signing of an oil and gas exploration deal between the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) and a United States firm.
However, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo and Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble both termed the deal “illegal.”
Already, the Auditor General has requested the Attorney General to launch investigations against anyone involved in crafting and signing the deal.
The deal was between the Somali government and Coastline Exploration Limited.
Eng. Ahmed says that the Texas-based firm fully paid for his trip to Turkey.
Apart from Eng. Ahmed, other individuals who went to Turkey to witness the signing ceremony included President Abdiaziz Hassan Mohamed Laftagareen of Southwest state.
Sadia Suleiman Haji Dahir, the Deputy Director of the Petroleum Authority, accompanied them too.
The petroleum minister claims Farmaajo was fully aware of the trip.
Dahir is a cousin to Fahad Yasin, the ex-Director of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) and a close ally of Farmaajo.