The Senate Committee on Public Account on Tuesday gave the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation one week to present detailed explanation on how N4.07 trillion was spent on fuel subsidy and pipeline repairs within a week or else the query by the Office of Auditor General of the Federation will be sustained.
The Vice Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia gave the order when the Management of the NNPC appeared before the Committee on the allegation of non-remittance of N4.07 trillion into the Federation Account.
Most members of the committee like Senators Ayo Akinyelure, Ibrahim Abdullahi and Suleiman Kwari were of the view that the query should be vacated until the Chief Financial Officer of the NNPC, Umar Ajiya, who represented the Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, present the details of how the money was spent before the query can be vacated.
The Office of the Auditor-General had in its 2016 Audit report accused NNPC of non remittance of N4.076 trillion into the Federation Sccount from operational proceeds made between 2010 and 2016.
Findings into the allegation were sought by the Senate Committee on Public Account at its session where Olutoye Agesin represented the Auditor General in his capacity as the Director of Public Accounts and Ajiya, who represented the NNPC GMD.
But while the NNPC Chief Finance Officer in his submissions before the Committee explained that the alleged unremitted N4.076 trillion was spent on other critical areas of operations, which were not taken cognisance of by the office of Auditor General of the Federation in the 2016 Audit report, Agesin countered by saying required explanations were not given for such spendings.
The NNPC CFO in debunking the allegation said the alleged unremitted money was expended on oil pipelines repairs, domestic fuel supplies which were heavily subsidised, security and management matters.
He said: “In fact, Mr. Chairman, Distinguished members of this Committee, from such expenses made within the stated period, it is even the Federal Government owing us N239 billion.”
He added that “response to the query had been sufficiently made in the forensic audit conducted later, reports of which were forwarded to the Office of the Auditor General and this August committee.
“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 was owing about N797 billion, but also on the other hand, the federation was also owing NNPC.
“The net effect was that the NNPC was being owed N239 billion.
“So there is nothing like N4 trillion withheld by NNPC.
“The books are with the CBN.
“You can’t hide N4 trillion anywhere.
“It has gone through the consumption of PMS and that is why everybody has to be involved with respect to deregulation.”
But Agesin in his own counter submission admitted that though a copy of the forensic report was received by them in the Office of Auditor General, but explanations given by the NNPC on alleged spendings made with the N4.076 trillion were not backed with required evidences of spendings.
He said: “N4 trillion is not a small amount of money that can just be said to be spent on pipeline repairs and oil subsidy within five years.
“Line by line details of such spendings ought to have been made in the NNPC’s response to the query.”
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