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Fri, Mar

NNPC Fails To Remit N4trn Oil Revenue

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation have today disagreed over the non-remittance of N4.07trillion unremitted revenue into the coffers of the federation Account. The Nigerian oil Giant NNPC was queried by the Senate Public Accounts Committee considering the 2016 report of the Auditor-General office. The Auditor-General office had alleged that a cumulative total of N4.076 trillion operational proceeds the corporation made between 2010 to 2015 were not remitted into the Federation Account by the NNPC as of 31st December 2016.

However, the NNPC while responding to the allegation claimed the Auditor-General office failed to take cognizance of fuel subsidy, pipeline repairs and the managing of the domestic crude oil transaction gulped all the money. During the hearing of the Senate Public Accounts Committee yesterday, the NNPC Chief Finance officer, Umar Ajiya, claimed that it was impossible for them to hide the money anywhere in the country.

He claimed the N4trillion all spent on pipeline repairs, domestic fuel supplies which were heavily subsidized, Security and management matters. In a counterclaim, A Director of public Account from the office of the Auditor-General, Olutoye Agesin said the NNPC did not give anybody a breakdown on how they spend all that money.

Ajiya explained that the query has been sufficiently made in the forensic audit conducted later, and subsequently, reports were forwarded to the office of the Auditor-General and the Senate committee.

In his statement, “The forensic audit has been done; the Auditor-General has a copy of the forensic audit. At the end of the day, that forensic audit established that NNPC owed about N797billion but also, on the other hand, the federation also owed NNPC. The net effect was that the NNPC was being owed N239billion. So, there is nothing like N4 trillion withheld by NNPC.

Ajiya further revealed that “The books are with the CBN, you can’t hide N4tr anywhere. It has gone through the consumption of PMS and that is why everybody has to be involved with respect to deregulation,”; However, Agesin while disagreeing said though a copy of the forensic report was received by Auditor-General’s office, but: “N4trillion is not a small amount of money that can just be said to be spent on pipeline repairs and oil subsidy within five years. He demanded that “Line by line details of such spending ought to have been made in the NNPC’s response to the query.”

Meanwhile, most of the members in the Senate like Senators Ayo Akinyelure (PDP, Ondo Central), Ibrahim Abdullahi (PDP, Sokoto South), Suleiman Kwari (APC, Kaduna North), throw their weight behind the Auditor-General, asking the NNPC CFO to give detailed accounts of how the money was spent.

In the end, the Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia (APC, Jigawa North East), directed the Chief Finance Officer of NNPC to furnish the committee with the required details within a week, upon which the query will be vacated or sustained.

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