SAN FRANCISCO, November 21, (THEWILL) – The House of Representatives Thursday passed a motion mandating its ad hoc committee to investigate the volume and sales of crude oil by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) between January and July.
The motion was sponsored by Hon. Haruna Manu (PDP-Taraba) which was unanimously adopted.
The ad hoc is expected to also ascertain the amount of money remitted into the federation account by the corporation during the period under review.
Leading the debate, Manu said the NNPC claimed to have remitted $20 billion to the federation account from crude oil sales from January to August, whereas it only remitted $7 billion.
Manu alleged that, according to a document before him, the corporation generated $29 billion between the period and remitted only $7 billion to the Federation Account.
“All returns accruing to the NNPC from crude oil sales and such transactions in the oil sector are supposed to be remitted to the Federation Account in accordance with section 162 (1) of the constitution,” he said.
Section 162 (1) states: “The federation shall maintain a special account to be called ‘the federation account’ into which shall be paid all revenues collected by the government of the federation, except the proceeds from the personal income tax of the personnel of the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police, the ministry or department of Government charged with the responsibility for Foreign affairs and residents of the Federal Capital Territory,”
According to him, revenue derived from crude oil sales and other sundry operations by the NNPC in the oil sector, are returns from property held by the government of the federation.
Manu disclosed that from September to date, no proper accounts have been rendered by the corporation or records kept to show the actual amount and volume of crude oil sales.
In his contribution, chairman of the House committee on public petitions, Hon. Solomon Adeola ( APC-Lagos), said the shortfall in the remittances of NNPC had been there for over seven years as contained in the Auditor-General of the Federation ‘s query to the corporation.
Adeola advised the ad hoc committee to critically scrutinise the Joint Venture Agreement between the Federal Government and some oil companies.
Also supporting the motion, Minority Whip, Hon. Samson Osagie ( APC-Edo), noted that the NNPC had over the years, remained a ‘dark horse’ when it concerned the issue of revenue remittance.
In his support, Hon. Ralph Igbokwe ( PDP-Imo) said the proposed investigation would go a long way to help the House in the passage of the 2014 budget.
Opposing the motion, Hon. Saraki Adar ( PDP-Katsina) said the reports of many investigations adopted by the House had yielded no results.
Also contributing, Hon. Warman Ogoriba ( PDP-Bayelsa) urged the House to allow the standing committee of the house handle the investigation instead of the ad hoc committee.
By Saint Mugaga, Abuja
