A medical team attending to an injured man during a stampede resulting from a fuel tanker that caught fire at the Nnpc Mega Station on Olusegun Obasanjo Way, Central Business District in Abuja recently. Photo: NAN

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has dismissed the claim that the sum of $10.8billion, out of the alleged unremitted $49.8 billion crude oil fund, was missing.

This is contained in a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by Dr Omar Ibrahim, General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC.

Ibrahim stated that the issues surrounding the allegation of unremitted $49.8billion against the NNPC, had since been explained last December at a joint press conference by NNPC, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

“There was no where it was admitted by any of the parties in the course of the press conference, that the sum of $12billion or $10.8billion, out of the alleged unremitted $49.8billion, is missing,” he said.

“The truth of the matter is that as at the time of the press conference, $30 billion of the alleged unremitted oil revenue, had been reconciled by all the parties involved.

“Dr Okonjo-Iweala, Coordinating Minister of the Economy did explain that the reconciliation was an ongoing process and that the balance of $10.8billion is still being reconciled,” the statement said.

NNPC added that at no time did anybody, neither the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, nor Malam Lamido Sanusi, CBN Governor, say that the outstanding $10.8billion was missing.

The statement said it was also pertinent to further clarify that NNPC, as a national oil company, was saddled with certain onerous responsibilities that other oil companies were freed from.

“For instance, as the supplier of last resort, NNPC has the responsibility of ensuring that there is adequate supply of petroleum products, whether the market is favourable or not.

“The yet to be reconciled $10.8 billion can be located in the expenses on some of the responsibilities which the corporation carries out on behalf of the Federal Government with respect to the domestic crude oil utilisation,” it stated.

The organisation said that these included the unpaid subsidies on kerosene and premium motor spirit (PMS), bulk importation of the PMS and the maintenance of national strategic reserves for petroleum products.

It said this was in addition to the cost of repairing and maintaining vandalised pipelines.

“The corporation is left to bear these responsibilities on behalf of the Federal Government, the cost incurred in this mandate is also part of the $10.8 billion yet-to-be-reconciled outstanding figure,” it stated.

It stressed that all the parties involved in the reconciliation process, were aware of these facts, adding that the figures were being thoroughly scrutinised.

NNPC further stated that at the end of the day, the parties would make their findings public as they did last time.

“It is therefore incorrect for anyone to continue to misinform the public that the sum of $10.8billion or $12billion of oil revenue, is missing,” the statement added.