Former Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, a key figure in the government's ill decision to acquire the K3 billion UBS loan and the purchase of a 10 per cent stake in Oil Search, appeared before the Commission of inquiry on Monday afternoon.
The former Prime Minister said he is surprised that senior ministers who were part of his 2014 cabinet, were not briefed on the K3 billion UBS loan and other transactions.
“For any NEC cabinet decision, the Prime Minister does not make unilateral decisions,” said Mr O’Neill.
He said the complex transaction to acquire the K3 billion loan from UBS was to buy back shares from IPIC.
In 2019, the Somare-led government acquired loans from IPIC, Abu Dhabi to fund the PNG LNG project.
However, when the Arabs refused to provide their position on the State's interest to buy back its shares, the state decided to buy 10 per cent stake in Oil Search.
The state further lost all its shares from Oil Search when the ASX price dropped.
“Losing the shares is not something I take lightly. This was a mistake made by the previous government and our government", said O'Neill.
Last week two senior Ministers in his cabinet, William Duma and Ben Micah told the inquiry that they were not briefed on the NEC submission and had nothing to do with the submission.
O'Neill told the inquiry he is surprised that senior ministers who were part of his 2014 cabinet, were not briefed on the K3 billion UBS loan and other transactions.