The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency has appealed to the
National Extractives Industries Transparency Initiatives to desist
from confusing the public further on its audit report, which said that the PPPRA should remit N4.423 billion to the Federation Account.
In a swift reaction to NEITI’s statement affirming that it stood by
its controversial audit report, the Executive Secretary of the PPPRA,
Reginald Stanley, told reporters in Abuja on Wednesday: “NEITI
appeared to have embarked on a wild-goose chase, instead of addressing the issues at stake.”
He said there was never a time the audit report was “signed-off” by
the management of the PPPRA, challenging NEITI to make a copy of the
sign-off public, to prove its claim against PPPRA.
On July 29, NEITI released its 2009-2011 audit report on the oil and
gas sector, recommending that the PPPRA should remit N4.423 billion,
arising from “over-recovery” to the Federation Account.
Stanley said: “We challenge NEITI to tell Nigerians where the N4.423
billion it claims was warehoused.
“If NEITI is indeed, desirous of efficiently doing its job, we
challenge it to go and consult the records at the Central Bank of
Nigeria, where the Petroleum Support Fund account is domiciled.
“It should also go a step further by visiting the records at the
Federal Ministry of Finance to confirm if certain amount of money as
claimed was remitted accordingly or not by the PPPRA.
“To all intents and purposes, it is apparent that NEITI is on a
wild-goose chase and self-seeking in its putrid claims.”
Stanley also faulted NEITI’s latest claim that “all the companies and
government agencies covered by the audit, including the PPPRA, were
fully involved and participated actively in the audit process”.
The PPPRA chief cited a section of NEITI’s report that claimed that
N3.715 billion was yet to be refunded by the Nigeria National
Petroleum Corporation and two other marketers, saying that NEITI’s
report was incongruous with the realities of what was outstanding in
over-recovery, “which is N3.98 billion owed only by the NNPC.
“The total over-recovery due from NNPC within the period was N8.372
billion, out of which the corporation paid N4.391 billion, leaving out a balance of N3.981 billion.
“Contrary to NEITI’s report, neither NIPCO nor AMG Petro-Energy
Limited has any outstanding payment for settlement.
“The issues here are about facts and figures and we make no
pretentions about all of these.”
Stanley, subsequently, provided the table below to buttress his argument:
SUMMARY OF TOTAL OVER-RECOVERY FOR 2008 & 2009: N14,073,783,779.74
Over-Recovery paid into CBN’s Account
N6,996,185,316.65 Over-Recovery net-off by Federal Ministry of Finance N3,126,587,419.98 Over-Recovery Outstanding to NNPC
N3,981,011,043.08 Total Over-Recovery N14,073,783,779.74 Stanley added: “The total of over-recovery was N14,073,783,779.74 with the following breakdown: over-recovery paid into CBN’s account –
N6,996,185,316.65; over-recovery net-off by Federal Ministry of
Finance -N3,126,587,419.98 while over-recovery outstanding with NNPC
stands at N3,981,011,043.08.
“It is clear that the three figures add up to the total over-recovery.
“So the question for NEITI is: where is the N4.423 billion
over-recovery to be refunded by PPPRA to the Federation Account.
“NEITI got it totally wrong and should be bold enough to admit so.
This singular incident casts doubt on the accuracy and integrity of
NEITI’s reports.”
Stanley said that the PPPRA as a responsible government agency,
committed to accountability and probity, was always ready to subject
itself to any enquiry, designed to promote public good and full
realisation of the transformation agenda of the Federal Government.
He added: “We hereby appeal to NEITI to desist from further confusing
the general public.
“Instead, it should revisit and reconcile available figures from both
the PSF and Federation Accounts.
“It is high time NEITI rose to the occasion by providing prompt,
timely and accurate records for the benefit of all Nigerians.”
Trending
- Ondo 2024: 171,922 accredited for APC primaries
- Intimate Affairs: Assisted fatherhood, by Funke Egbemode
- NGE, UNICEF sign MoU to boost advocacy for children’s rights
- Killings: No sane foreigner will invest in Nigeria — TY Danjuma
- Alake backs Oyo’s quest for mining licences
- Plateau: Police release casualty figures in latest gunmen attack
- Yahaya Bello: Tread softly, Arewa group tells EFCC
- EFCC and the brigandage that won’t stop, by Lere Olayinka