‘Missing’ $20bn: Okonjo-Iweala Demands Forensic Audit

L-R: Senator Magnus Abe, Senator Wilson Ake and Rivers Commissioner for Works, Victor Giadom, chatting during a function at Erema in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA of Rivers State, recently.

The Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has reiterated her call for an independent forensic audit into the documents submitted to the committee by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and certified by Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) over the missing $10.8billion oil revenue insisting that, such would ensure transparency and accountability in the management of government funds.
Speaking at the public hearing on the floor of the Senate, yesterday, Okonjo-Iweala said: “On the oil finances, what is being said here, it is made to look as if there is no accountability and that is not the case. For two steady years, Federal Allocation Committee meeting, the Ministry of Finance ensured that the accounts of the country are transparently laid and every commissioner knows the details, they have their folders.
“It is the result of the reconciliation that we arrived at $10.8billion that everybody is now talking about. When CBN spoke about $49.8billion, we were the first to say it is not correct. After that, it was proven that $49.8billion was not the right amount, the CBN had the courage to admit that it was actually $10.8billion, it was the process employed by the Ministry of Finance that brought that about.
“Without the steady work we have done to perfect the finances of this country, we won’t be talking about $10.8billion. The issue is that where is that money, how is it being accounted for, and we have led the process. We asked both the NNPC and the PPPRA to produce their documents, and they had produced certified copies for the $10.8billion, and we have asked for an independent audit. A lot of accusations are being made in this country, and the only way to be satisfied is to have an independent audit.”
However, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday insisted that the alleged missing $10.8 billion was prudently expended.
The NNPC forwarded documents meant to clarify how the money was spent, ostensibly to clear the air over the alleged missing $10.8billion oil revenue not remitted into the Federation Account between January 2012 and July 2013.
The public hearing was rescheduled last week to enable all parties submit all relevant documents to support their claims, after the PPPRA had submitted documents which certified spending and claims made by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation over the missing $10.8 billion crude oil fund.
PPPRA debunked the claims by the CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi that $20billion was diverted by the NNPC, insisting that all monies had duly been accounted for by the corporation.
The controversy started when the governor of the apex bank hinted that $49.8 billion crude oil proceeds was yet to be remitted to the coffers of the Federal Government by the NNPC.
The issue was reported for investigation on the floor of the Senate and consequent upon which the Senate Committee on Finance was mandated to carry out a thorough investigation into the claims made by Sanusi.
Earlier in the investigation, it was publicized that $49.8 billion was not the amount missing but $10.8 billion, following a series of reconciliation embarked upon by the NNPC, CBN and Finance Ministry.
However, at last week’s hearing, Sanusi again blew another whistle; that the missing amount is $20billion.
Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Engr. Andrew Yakubu, in his response to the finance committee, submitted a breakdown of the $10.8 billion said to be missing.
Yakubu told the Senate Committee on Finance that “since January 2012, NNPC has not received any subsidy payments for petroleum products supplied to the domestic market”.
The NNPC boss while recalling that N888.101 billion and N971.138 billion was appropriated for subsidy for the year 2012 and 2013, respectively, noted that the amounts were grossly inadequate to meet the required subsidy payments to both NNPC and other marketers.
But the Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi argued that out of the missing $10.8 billion oil revenue, some amount ought to be remitted to the Federation Account.
The Chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Ahmed Markafi, against the backdrop of Sanusi’s claim, said that the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, would appear before the committee next week Thursday to give legal insight into what amount belongs to the Federation Account.
He said: “We also heard from the CBN that they are questioning part of the $10.8billion. They believe that part of it should belong to the Federation Account but they are not technically competent at this stage to state how much it is.
“We have agreed to see how we will engage technical experts to determine which part of the amount, if any, belongs to the Federation Account”.

Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi,Abuja