The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has explained that it spent N966bn to repair pipelines between 2010 and 2015.
NNPC stated this in response to the query raised in the 2016 report of the Auditor General for the Federation
The Chairman of the Senate Public Account Committee, Senator Mathew Urhoghide, is currently scrutinising the AuGF report.
The Senate panel insisted that the NNPC had a case to answer on why it allegedly failed to remit N4tn into the federation account as contained in the AuGF report.
Part of the AuGF report read, “It was observed from the examination of NNPC report to Technical Sub- Committee of the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting held in December 2016 that a cumulative total of N4.08tn remained unremitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC as at 31st December 2016.
“The total revenue unremitted as at 1st January 2016 from amounts payable into the Federation Account by NNPC was ₦3.88tn.
“The sum of N1.198,138,355,860.30 was due in revenue to the Federation Account out of the total generated in 2016. However, the NNPC paid the sum of N1,000,545,058,966.20 resulting in an amount withheld of N197,593,296,894.02.
“This brought the total amount withheld by the NNPC from the Federation Account as of 31 December 2016 to N4,076,548,336,749.75.”
However, the NNPC in its written response to the committee claimed that ‘the unremitted N4tn was arrived at without taking cognisance the subsidy and pipeline repairs and management associated with domestic crude oil transaction’.
The NNPC said, “Subsidy approved and certified by Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency from 2010 to 2015 stood at N4tn.
“Also in 2016, PMS under recovery stood at the N28.6bn which brings the total subsidy /PMS under recovery to N4tn.
“Aside the above, pipeline repairs and products losses so incurred stood at N966bn for the same period.”
The Chairman of the Senate panel had said that the NNPC must appear before the Senate Committee this week to give clarification on the issue raised in the AuGF report concerning the N4tn unremitted into the federation account.
Senate summons ministry officials over N2bn unremitted funds
Meanwhile, the Senate has sustained a query raised by the AuGF in its 2016 report which alleged that the Ministry of Solid Minerals did not remit N2bn into the Federation Account.
Part of the AuGF query read, “During the examination of the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee records, we observed that a cumulative total of N9,923,015,028.00 Solid Minerals revenue collected in 2015 was paid into the Federation Account in the year ended 31st December 2016.
“We noted that the ministry reported the same total revenue figure for years 2014, 2015 and 2016.