NNPC Accused Of Illegally Keeping N236b

The House Of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to remit N236bn to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation in a month or face prosecution.

The House gave the order based on a query from the Auditor-General of the Federation which the NNPC refused to defend despite several invitations by the committee. The Chairman of the committee, Hon. Solomon Adeola (ACN-Lagos) gave the committee’s verdict at a resumed hearing yesterday.

The NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, was to appear with the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS; the Petroleum Products Pricing Agency, PPPRA and the Accountant-General of the Federation over the Auditor -General’s query on the fuel subsidy regime.

He, however, advised the General Manager, Process and Procedures, Mr. Abdullahi Kalami, to represent him instead of the Corporation’s Executive Director Finance and Accounts, Mr. Bernard Otti.

The committee, however, dismissed Kalami insisting that he lacked the capacity to stand in for the corporation on the issues raised as it ruled that NNPC must pay the N236bn to the Consolidated Revenue Accounts of the Federation.

Adeola explained that the committee took the decision as the last resort since the corporation had refused to provide necessary documents or defend itself while the PPPRA and other relevant agencies had appeared before the Committee and testified that the money was with the national oil company.