Sanusi Lamido, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, is adamant that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, failed to remit $20 billion in oil revenues last year as against the $10.8 billion. Appearing before a Senate panel investigating the unremitted oil revenue, Sanusi said that the accounts of the CBN showed that out of the $67 billion the NNPC earned between January 2012 and July 2013, only $47 billion has been received by CBN, leaving $20 unremitted.
The position of Sanusi is considered by NNPC officials a reversal of an earlier agreement reached at a reconciliation meeting by all the concerned parties estimating the figure at $10.8 billion. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwealla, finance minister and coordinating minister for the economy, Sanusi and heads of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, and Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, were all at the reconciliation meeting that reviewed the disputed figure from $49.8 billion to $10.8 billion.
“While NNPC and other relevant government agencies are in the process of reconciling the $10.8 billion as accepted by all parties, we are surprised by the new $20 billion figure introduced by the CBN,” NNPC has said in a statement.
Sanusi also said NNPC’s claims of payments for kerosene subsidies were fraudulent since there was still a valid presidential directive eliminating subsidy payments issued by the late President Yar’Adua since July 2009. He said it was worrisome that from April 2012 till date, NNPC has submitted returns consistently before FAAC, showing that it has not deducted monies for subsidies for PMS, and that it was therefore surprising that having submitted nil returns since April 2012 “the corporation is now claiming that deductions were being made.”
The NNPC, however, explained that “Regarding the subsidy claim on kerosene, it is important to note that NNPC as the supplier of last resort is the only company supplying this product in Nigeria for the benefit of the citizenry. If kerosene has been deregulated why are the independent marketers not supplying this product in line with what is applicable to diesel (AGO). NNPC owes a duty to Nigerians to ensure that there are adequate products in the country. This mandate has without question been accomplished in the past four years. NNPC deserves to be commended rather than battered, for ensuring adequate supply of kerosene at regulated price of N50.00k. NNPC cannot be held responsible for any differential pricing from non NNPC retailers. This is the basis for NNPC’s claim on kerosene subsidy.”
Bright Okogu, director general, Budget Office, is hopeful that the involved parties would by next week conclude the reconciliation of NNPC accounts to unravel the actual missing money.