The Senate Committee on Gas disclosed on Wednesday that it discovered an illegal withdrawal of $1,151,609 from the dividends accounts of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The allegation is coming on the heels of a recent similar accusation against the NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, by the Senate of another illegal withdrawal of about $1.05 billion based on the presidential directive.
The committee’s Chairman, Senator Bassey Akpan, alleged that the illegal withdrawals by the NNPC through the Central Bank of Nigeria were discovered in the course of an ongoing investigation by the panel set up to investigate the alleged $1.05 billion withdrawal.
The lawmaker quoted the NNPC boss as having explained that the $1.05 billion was withdrawn to cover the deficit being incurred by the state-owned oil corporation on landing costs of imported fuel which is N185 compared to the pump price of N145.
When constituted by the Senate about two weeks ago, the panel was mandated to probe the $1.05 billion which the NNPC withdrew from the accounts in April this year without authorisation by relevant authorities.
In the course of the assignment, he plan demanded from the NNPC and the CBN documents relating to the withdrawals made from the NLNG dividends account within the last two years.
According to the chairman, the committee, based on the documents provided on Wednesday by the NLNG’s Chief Operating Officer (Finance) at the CBN, Babatunde Adeniran, observed series of cash debits from the account from November 2016 to June this year totalling $2.201bn.
An analysis of the withdrawals, allegedly not supported by required approving documents as observed by the committee, showed that $86,546,526 million was withdrawn from the account on November 22, 2016, allegedly being payment on Paris Club loans to the Nigerian Governors Forum, and the $1.05 billion withdrawn on April 17, 2018, as National Fuel Support Fund.
Others are, $650 million withdrawn from the account on June 7 this year to offset the Joint Venture Cash Call by the NNPC which should be a budget item payment, and another $415. 063 million withdrawn also in June without clear explanation on the purpose for which it was meant.
Apparently not convinced about the necessity of the series of withdrawals, the Senate panel ordered officials of the CBN and the NNPC to forward to it, latest by Tuesday, November 20, supporting and approving documents for the withdrawals.
Akpan clarified: “From the available documents before us, apart from the $1.05bn that we are mandated by the Senate to investigate, we have also discovered that several withdrawals were made from the NLNG dividends account without the required supporting documents to back them.
“This is unacceptable to us. We are also not happy that the GMD of NNPC and CBN Governor are not here personally. We are, therefore, not going to continue with the session today.
“Both the NNPC and the CBN must furnish this committee with other relevant documents on the withdrawals latest by Tuesday next week and the NNPC GMD, the Corporations Group Executive Director, Finance, Isiaka Abdulrasak, and the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, must also appear before us”, he added.
The chairman disclosed that a document tagged ‘Memo NNPC GMD 49’ signed by the NNPC boss and sent through the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, had no clear-cut language of a request for approval for the withdrawal of the $1.05 billion but was a mere notification.
He pointed out that approval for withdrawal from such fund was supposed to be given by the National Economic Council being an account or dividends owned by the three tiers of government.
The lawmaker promised that the committee would ensure a thorough investigation into the alleged illegal withdrawal made from the NLNG dividends account since 2015 “to put an end to the cycle because a whopping $5bn was withdrawn from the same account in 2015 under this same government.”
