Oct 23, 2015

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES TO PROBE THE NON REMITTANCE OF REVENUE.

The House of Representatives yesterday resolved to probe the non- remittance of
revenues payable into the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) which are accruing from operations with its Joint Ventures
partners.
The lawmakers decried the mismanagement of the revenues, noting that billions of
naira were lost to lopsided agreements and colluding government officials who aid
NNPC partners to deprive the country of much-needed funds for development.
The House also resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the joint
venture agreements especially leakages and to also carry out forensic assurance
review of the joint venture books to establish the accrued incomes in the past
seven years.
The committee is also expected to ascertain the actual amount remitted into the
Federation Account and report back to the House within seven days.
The resolution followed the adoption of the motion titled, "Recovery of revenues
payable into the Federation Account from NNPC and its joint venture partners,"
sponsored by Hon. Ossai Nicholas Ossai (PDP-Delta).
He said the NNPC and the oil companies are expected to fund the Joint Venture
Operations (JVOs) and share the oil produced and other associated benefits or
revenues in line with their interest holdings as contained in the agreements.
"Federal Government's contribution to the funding of the joint venture is sourced
from Appropriation Acts and released by the NNPC through a system of monthly
Cash Calls which frees the government from any other cost obligation.
"Besides the lifting of oil in the agreed sharing ratio, there are associated incomes
or miscellaneous revenues accruable to the joint venture, for which government is
entitled to a good share in accordance with the joint operation agreements," he
said.
According to him, "Section 162 (1) of the Constitution requires all collectable
revenues of the government of the federation to be paid into the Federation
Account.
"The House is concerned that income from such sources as sales of assets, marine
transportation, haulage or pipeline transportation, etc which form part of the joint
venture operations, are unaccounted for an usually paid into the distributable pool
by the oil companies which are the operators of the joint venture," he said.
The House also resolved to summon the Permanent-Secretary of the Federal
Ministry of Petroleum to explain Nigeria's failure to attend to the Zero Routine
Gas Flaring Initiative held in Washington, United States in April. It said the
conference was important to Nigeria. This is just as it mandated the Committees
on Gas Resources and Petroleum (Downstream) to conduct a comprehensive
review of government interventions aimed at ending gas flaring.

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