Reps probe NNPC over alleged non-remittance of oil revenues

The House of Representatives on Thursday ordered a probe into the volume, value of crude oil sales and remittances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from January 2013 to date.

The four-week investigation is to be conducted by a House ad-hoc committee after a resolution followed a motion moved by Mr. Haruna Manu, who alleged that about $13.9bn crude oil revenue could not be accounted for by the NNPC

Manu, who quoted from statistics allegedly generated by the NNPC, told the House that the value for crude oil sales from January to August stood at $20.9bn.

He, however, said only $7bn was remitted to the Federation Account by the corporation.

Manu added that 'this shows that $13.9bn is not accounted for and it raises questions about how it was spent.'

He claimed that from September to date, the corporation had not given an account of crude oil sales.

Contributing to the debate, the Chairman, House Committee on Public Affairs, Mr. Adeola Olamilekan, recalled that the issue of accounting for crude oil sales by the NNPC had been on for the last seven years without a solution.

He said, 'One of the areas of concern is the NNPC's Joint Venture operations.

'There are several billions of dollars that are unaccounted for.

'Some JV partners will come before the committee and give you information that the NNPC cannot contradict.'

'Now, when you confront NNPC with this information, they don't address the issues at stake.

'Reports from the Auditor-General's Office have many cases against the NNPC.

'When this investigation is being conducted, I urge the ad-hoc committee to liaise with the Public Accounts Committee.

'We have information we can give to the committee to assist the investigation.'

A second resolution the House passed on the oil sector sought to investigate the impact of the discovery of Shale Gas on Nigeria's dwindling crude oil revenue.