The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on Thursday accused the International oil companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria’s hydrocarbon resources industry of not fulfilling their fiscal obligations to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as and when due.
Specifically, the minister claimed that the IOCs currently owed the commission over $4 billion.
Akpabio, who made this disclosure at the weekly ministerial press briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the State House, Abuja, said by law, the IOCs were required to provide 3% of their annual budgets to the commission as their contribution to its funding, but lamented none of the IOCs had paid so far.
The minister clarified: “All the international oil companies are owing their statutory contribution to NDDC running into over $4 billion for many years and efforts are ongoing to recoup the money”.
Akpabio also disclosed that due to the non-payment of the IOCs’ contribution to the commission and other factors, the commission was now indebted to contractors to the tune of N3 trillion.
While further clarifying that not all contracts awarded with costs can be regarded as debt, Akpabio
Explained that the over N600 billion of emergency contracts awarded by the NDDC had not been iexecuted, hence the commission cannot accused of owing on those unexecuted contracts.
