2013 Budget: Reps threaten to arrest NAPIMS boss

NAPIMS boss

THE House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), on Wednesday, threatened to issue warrant of arrest on the Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Services (NAPIMS), Mr M. A. Fiddi, over his inability to appear before it to defend budget estimate of the services for 2013 and appraisal of 2012 budget.
The International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating Joint Venture arrangement with NAPIMS were also warned against undermining the powers of the parliament, for sending representatives instead of their managing directors to before the committee.
The NAPIMS boss and the managing directors of the affected IOCs were, however, asked to appear before it unfailingly today.
Chairman of the committee, Honourable Muriana Ajibola, who handed down the threat, noted that the NAPIMS boss had never taken the committee serious, despite the fact that invitation letter dated November 13,2012 was duly served on Mr Fiddi to come and defend the 2013 budget estimates of NAPIMS and also give appraisal of its 2012 budget performance.
NAPIMS is a subsidiaries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) charged with the responsibility of managing Federal Government’s investment in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry.
The committee also directed managing directors of Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Nigeria AGIP Oil Company Limited and Pan Ocean Oil Corporation to appear before it, so as to defend the Joint Venture agreement they had with the Federal Government through NAPIMS.
“By this letter, as it is being done every year, the NAPIMS management team are supposed to appear before us to state how they have spent public fund in the production of crude, which we call cash calls, in the last one year, this is to enable our committee to look into their proposal for 2013.
“This letter, in our usual practice, was also written to all the Joint Venture partners who, of course, ordinarily ought to also submit their independent budget performance for 2012 and also be prepared to defend their 2013 budget proposals individually before this committee,” Honourable Ajibola said.