The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, on Tuesday insisted that the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation was yet to remit $20 billion to the nation’s account in the apex bank.
Sanusi made his position known when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Finance investigating the alleged missing $49.8 billion in Abuja.
He said the unremitted $20 billion was part of the $67 billion oil proceeds between January 2012 and July 2013.
He said: “It is established that out of the $67 billion crude shipped by NNPC between January 2012 and July 2013, $47 billion was remitted to the Federation Account.
“It is now up to the NNPC to prove that $20 billion unremitted either did not belong to the federation or was legally and constitutionally spent.
“There is no dispute that $20 billion out of the $67 billion has not been paid into any account with the CBN.”
Sanusi added that the apex bank and NNPC had agreed on $14 billion equity remitted and $16 billion as payment to Federal Inland Revenue Service by International Oil Companies.
Other reconciled remittances, he added, were $two billion royalty payment to the Department of Petroleum Resources by the IOCs and $16 billion out of the $28 billion taken as domestic crude paid in naira.
He further said that $12 billion out of domestic crude sales was yet to be remitted to the bank, adding that NNPC had disclosed that N180 billion was spent as subsidy payments in 2012.
According to him, if the PPPRA confirms the numbers, the CBN will adjust the balance accordingly.
Sanusi added: “As for the balance of $10.8 billion, NNPC has publicly disclosed that 80 per cent applied to petrol and kerosene subsidy
“I have submitted to this committee written evidence of presidential directive eliminating subsidy since 2009 and NNPC needs to provide its authority for buying kerosene at N150 from federation account and selling at N40.”
He added that by the act, “NNPC inflicted that loss on the federation.”
The CBN governor noted that monthly returns of NNPC to Federation Accounts Allocation Committee meetings always indicated amount deducted as PMS subsidy.
He, however, said that “from April 2012 to date, NNPC returns indicated that it had not deducted anything for PMS”.
On third party financing operating expenses not appropriated, Sanusi said that the apex bank was yet to get any documentation or proof.
Earlier, Dr. Bright Okogu, the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, pleaded that his office, the CBN and the NNPC should be given one week to conclude the reconciliation of the accounts.
Okogu said that reconciliation had been ongoing at FAAC and that after the first meeting, the groups discovered that the outstanding payment was about $10.8 billion against $49.8 billion announced in the media.
“We request that the chairman of the committee should give us another one week to finish on the documents we already have,: he said
The Chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, directed all the parties involved in the remittances and reconciliation to ensure that the verification and reconciliation were concluded on February 7.
Makarfi adjourned further hearing in the matter to February 13.
Trending
- FG bans use of foreign syringes, needles in tertiary hospitals
- Contempt: Appeal Court grants EFCC’s exparte motion for stay of proceedings, fixes date for hearing
- Court orders arrest of ex-Naval Chief over N1.5 b ‘fraud’ case
- Oyebanji receives Daily Independent’s Governor of the Year Award
- Police arrest 19-year-old for allegedly robbing female students
- Ganduja: Court bars police from arresting APC Ward Officers
- Police raid criminal hideouts, arrest 40 suspects in Lagos
- Tinubu to commission 3 gas infrastructure projects to boost economy prosperity