More Shocking Revelations As NEITI Uncovers Unremitted $22.8bn In NNPC

FROM LEFT:NNPC, GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR, MR ANDREW YAKUBU (R), WITH MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PETROLEUM RESOURCES DOWNSTREAM, UPSTREAM AND JUSTICE, INVESTIGATING THE ALLEGED CONNIVANCE OF NNPC WITH SWISS OIL DEALERS TO ROB NIGERIA IN ABUJA ON TUESDAY (25/2/14).
FROM LEFT:NNPC, GROUP MANAGING DIRECTOR, MR ANDREW YAKUBU (R), WITH MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE JOINT COMMITTEE ON PETROLEUM RESOURCES DOWNSTREAM, UPSTREAM AND JUSTICE, INVESTIGATING THE ALLEGED CONNIVANCE OF NNPC WITH SWISS OIL DEALERS TO ROB NIGERIA IN ABUJA ON TUESDAY (25/2/14).

The dust raised by the allegedly missing $10.8 billion has barely settled than another revelation by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, indicates that $22.8 billion undisclosed proceeds is not reflecting in the books of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.

This latest revelation was made on Wednesday at the Hon. Muraino Ajibola-led House of Representatives joint committee of Petroleum (Upstream), Petroleum (Downstream) and Justice sitting, investigating the allegation by a Swiss-based Non-Governmental and Advocacy organization – Berne Declaration, that two Swiss oil trading firms, Vitol and Trafigura, in tandem with NNPC have milked the country of about $6.8 billion in two years.

In a 29-page presentation made by the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Hajiya Shamsuna Ahmed, before the joint committee, she said, “these transactions which sum up to $22.8 billion are off balance sheet items (not disclosed in NNPC’s Audited Financial Statements). The implication is that there may be significant contingent liabilities to the Federation that is not being disclosed”.

According to Mrs. Ahmed, the funds are from the NNPC’s alternative funding/financing arrangements with its Joint Venture (JV) partners in form of third party financing from external financial markets and Modified Carry Arrangement (MCA), which are loans from existing JV partners (International Oil Companies).

NEITI further faulted the alternative funding arrangement entered into by NNPC on behalf of the Federal Government and recommended that “there is therefore, the need for transparent disclosure of all alternative funding arrangements in the audited financial statements (AFS) of the corporation”.

NEITI also said that $1.73 meant for JV cash calls have been diverted by the state-owned NNPC.

It said: “Non-cash call items totaling $1.73 billion were financed from the CBN/NNPC JP Morgan Chase Cash Call Dollar Account. This reduced the amount available for funding JV operations with the attendant implications of NNPC seeking alternative funding arrangements to fund cash call shortfalls”.

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