The Senate Committee on Finance has given the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, an ultimatum to submit details of subsidy for kerosene and petrol from July 2013 to December 2013.
The committee is investigating the alleged non-remittance of 20 billion dollars to the Federation Account by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
According to Senator Ahmed Makarfi, chairman of the committee, the committee is looking forward to the report of the independent consultants it appointed to conduct forensic examination and audit of expenses incurred by NNPC. He said that the Auditor-General of the Federation had written to the committee confirming he had commenced forensic checks on the alleged un remitted funds. “We want to lay to rest the issue of un remitted revenue or unaccounted for revenue without further delay. So, we want to stand down on other issues that have to do with the other mandate of the committee. Their independent report is what will make us form an opinion on the expenses and losses totaling about 2.1 billion dollars based on your submission accounting for that money,” said Makarfi.
The committee is expected to conclude its work and present its report to the Senate after it receiving the reports of the independent forensic auditors and the final certification from PPPRA. Makarfi vowed that the committee would not hesitate to invite any of the agencies for clarification during the course of the technical session to consider the submissions before arriving on specific decisions.