The House of Representatives has a written a letter to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), demanding the NNPC to furnish it with records of withdrawals from the account.
This lawmakers are reportedly dissatisfied with the defence of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the audit query on the alleged illegal withdrawal of about $20.3 billion from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The House Committee on Public Accounts investigating the alleged illegal withdrawal also directed the NNPC to furnish it with records of utilisation of such funds as well as all necessary approvals obtained for the withdrawal of the money which is part of the $21 billion accruing to the government as dividends from the NLNG.
The request is contained in a letter Ref. HR/PAC/SCO5/9NASS/QUE.9/974 dated December 7, 2020 signed by its Chairman, Hon. Oluwole Oke and addressed to the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, which was delivered and acknowledged on December 10, 2020.
The NNPC holds 49 per cent shares in the NLNG on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, with Shell, Total and Agip holding the balance of 51 per cent.
The letter reads in part: “I refer to your presentation on the above subject matter at a session with the Committee on Thursday, 3rd December, 2020 confirming the withdrawal of the sum of $20.3 billion from the account by NNPC.
“In view of the above, you are to furnish all records of the withdrawals from the account and the utilisation of the fund from inception to date”.
However, in a letter Reference No: GGM/GPAD/01 dated November 9, 2020 and signed by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. K. A. Obateru, the NNPC has dispatched copies of their response to the House Committee.
A summary of the monies received into the account revealed that there was an initial deposit of $6,564,691.99 was paid into the account while other payments included dividends $18,574,610,988.35; Loan Repayment – $2,097,671,579.37; Refund of Train 6 Funding Balance – $321,817,005.33; Interest on Loan – $337,757,245.33 and Interest on Account – $347,226,413.03; amounting to a total of $21,685,647,923.39.
The NNPC letter said that out of the amount, the sum of $20,300,772,850 was disbursed leaving balance of $1,384,875,073.39, adding that all withdrawals from the account were done with necessary approvals which were however not attached to the document.
