- Where is the $1.48bn the firm promised to refund to government?
What could be more contemptuous than for an agency of government to feel bigger than the government that created it? This question becomes pertinent in view of the conceited disposition and breaches of financial rules, regulations and lawful directives that have become symptomatic of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the years. This fact is better underscored by the corporation’s disobedience of presidential order issued it by former President Goodluck Jonathan to refund $1.48bn (N291.56bn) into the Federation Account.
The order was made not less than four months ago and now, about one month into the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The presidential directive was a consequence of two major events: one was an allegation by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that $49bn of the nation’s oil money was missing from the Federation Account. Two, it was the outcome of a forensic report of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), an international audit firm, commissioned by the Federal Government to look into the books of the corporation. The report, whatever its shortcomings, came up with scandalous transactions that the management of the corporation engaged in on a daily basis, thereby short-changing the nation of its hard earned oil revenue, usually paid for in dollars.
Samuel Ukura, Auditor-General of the Federation who at the period released excerpts of the report to the media was unsparing. He explained that the report was based on the NNPC costs, ownership of the NPDC revenues and Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) subsidy. He reportedly declared that “based on the information available to the PwC, and from analysis, the firm submitted that the NNPC and NPDC should refund to the Federation Account a minimum of $1.48 billion.”
Surprisingly, months after and, despite the intervention of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the body responsible for sharing of revenues amongst the nation’s component units, over the delay by the NNPC to remit to the government the said sum, nothing concrete has been done. We are compelled to ask: why has NNPC not complied with this presidential directive? Is the corporation going to pay interest on this huge amount illegally kept in its custody? For how long has this corporation been perpetuating this kind of illegality? What is still keeping security agencies in the country from interceding in this fraud and also bringing those involved before the law? It is high time the administration of President Buhari seized the moment to duly cut the NNPC to size.
Notwithstanding the financial recklessness of some state governors that put most states in dire financial crisis, we still believe that the delay by NNPC in refunding the money into the Federation Account has eroded the revenue base of most states across the country. Perhaps if it had been done appropriately as directed, the crisis of salary arrears in the states may have been mitigated.
We call on the President Buhari administration to revisit the PwC forensic audit report so as to have a firsthand insight into the odious maladministration going on under the guise of managing the NNPC and its subsidiaries. Except the authorities do something now, the graft and impunity going on in the corporation would continue.
This impunity by the NNPC must stop forthwith.
