FG ORDERS PROBE ON NNPC OVER UNACCOUNTED N3.8TRN

The Federal government yesterday June 29th constituted a four-man committee to probe NNPC over N3.8 trillion unaccounted for by the corporation in the last three years. According to the Edo state governor, who is part of the 4-man probe committee, investigations by the federal government show that NNPC made N8.1 trillion from 2012-2015, paid N4.3 trillion to the federal government and withheld N3.8 trillion which the management of the corporation have not accounted for.

The probe panel was constituted by the National Economic Council which was inaugurated by President Buhari yesterday June 29th

"We are talking about transparency, we are talking about change and what we saw from those numbers I believe that Nigerians are entitled to know, is that whereas NNPC claimed to have earned N8.1trn, what was paid into the Federation Account from 2012 to May 2015 was N4.3trn. What it means is that NNPC withheld and spent N3.8trn. The major revelation here is that the amount NNPC paid into the federation account for distribution to the three tiers of government came to N4.3trn and the corporation alone took and spent N3.8trn. This means the cost of running NNPC is much more than the cost of running the Federal Government. That tells you how much is missing; what is mismanaged; what is stolen. These are huge figures. There is no enterprise manager who goes to the market and sells and just begin to spend, otherwise nobody needs to budget,” he said.

He added that if the Federal Government cannot spend without appropriation, agencies of government cannot not also spend money without appropriation

“This is what the constitution provided for. And this is what President Buhari has promised to do that henceforth all monies must go to the Federation Account. What do you need budget for; Nigeria cannot continue with you earn the money and spend it. Where is transparency? Where is the role of the National Assembly? So if you were doing that you won’t have a situation where the NNPC alone will spend N3.8trn and remit to the federal, states and local governments N4.3trn which means NNPC is taking about 47 per cent and that explains all the leakages you are talking about. We looked at the numbers for the Excess Crude Account. The last time the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, reported to the Council and it is in the minute, she reported that by November 2014, we had $4.1bn but today the Accountant General Office reported we have $2bn, which means the Honourable Minister spent $2.1bn without authority of the NEC.”he said

Other members of the probe panel includes governors of Kaduna, Zamfara and AkwaIbom states.