Audit Query: Reps Kick As NNPC, Others Shun Summons

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, yesterday, strongly criticised the failure by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, and heads of the corporation’s subsidiaries to appear before it.

The committee decried that it was the tenth time the officials would write to defer their appearance at its investigative hearing on the audit queries issued against them by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation, including unaccounted proceed of oil sales amounting to about N3.9trillion.

Those with queries against them are the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited, Petroleum Products Marketing Company Limited, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, NNPC Retail Limited, National Petroleum Investment & Management Services, National Petroleum Exchange, Nigerian Gas Company, NNPC Pension Limited, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and the Port Harcourt Refining Company.

Others are Duke Oil Company Inc., West Africa Gas Limited, Nidas Marine Limited, Hyson (Nigeria) Limited, National Engineering and Technical Company, and Integrated Data Service Limited.

One of the queries by the OAUGF is alleging under remittance of revenue from domestic crude oil sales totalling N3.878trillion.

The OAUGF had issued another query against the NNPC bothering on the non-collection of miscellaneous gas receipts for some months in 2015, asking the corporation to refund N450billion to the Federation Account; another refund of N1.8trillion as well as unpaid gas revenue without details worth $198,919,212.27 (N37,189,084,819.19).

Kyari is particularly expected to respond to the audit query on “payment through Nigeria Gas Limited Funding Account $30,963,894.01 (N16,099,887,119.77)  as well as misapplication of Joint Venture Cash Calls for other purpose, $292,094,405.82 and N2,474,295,000.

Beneficiaries from the Nigeria Gas Limited Funding Account, namely Century Energy Service Ltd, United Refining Rachmann, Union Petroleum Service, Ocean Bed Trading Ltd, Ice Energy & Petroleum, Mangrove Pet. Supplies & Logistic, and Unicorp Trading Ltd are expected to also appear before the committee.

The committee is also probing into the alleged illegal withdrawals from the account of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited totalling $20.3billion and the utilisation of the funds from inception to date.

However, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr K. A Obateru, in a letter to Chairman of the committee, Hon Wole Oke, with Reference Number GGM/GPAD/08 and February 10, 2020 (sic), said the GMD of NNPC would not appear before the lawmakers, yesterday.

Oke said, “NNPC has written us again for the tenth time to seek deferment and ask for another date.”