Senate, Reps probe $49.8bn ‘missing’ funds, oil theft

David Mark and Aminu Tambuwal

The two chambers of the National Assembly on Wednesday commenced separate probes into the alleged non-remittance of $49.8bn into the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

The Senate asked its Committee on Finance to conclude its investigations and submit a report within one week.

Similarly, the House of Representatives opened an investigation into the rising theft of the country’s crude oil and warned the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, and the NNPC about the consequences of ignoring summons by its Ad hoc Committee on Oil Theft.

The minister, the NNPC and its subsidiaries are among 50 agencies and individuals the ad hoc committee of the House conducting the investigation said it had summoned to answer questions on the matter.

The Senate’s action was taken following a point of order raised under matter of urgent importance by Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi, who cited Order 42 and drew the attention of his colleagues to the allegation of non-remittance of the sum/diversion raised against the NNPC by the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, in a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Adetunmbi also requested the Senate to carry out an in-depth probe into the missing fund for the period of January 2012 to July 2013.

The money was meant to be lodged in the CBN, but Sanusi said the amount was not in the bank’s coffers.

Adetunmbi said, “There has been a raging debate on the issue of missing money from the coffers of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Today (Wednesday), all papers carried the report of $49.8bn that has not been remitted to the Federation Account.”

He, therefore, urged the Senate to carry out “a holistic investigation into the matter.”

He said, “The parliament owes a duty or responsibility to the public to ensure that we get to the root of this issue for the purposes of public information and the integrity of this parliament.

“This is necessary because appropriation and revenue are the major responsibilities of this parliament.”

The President of the Senate, David Mark, who presided over the session, said the matter could not be treated immediately on the floor because there was no detailed information before the Senate yet.

He also said the allegation, which Adetunmbi was relying upon, “was a newspaper report.”

Mark said he had earlier in a meeting with the senator promised that the Senate Committee on Finance would handle the matter.

He said, “You have come under Order 42, you know what you showed to me was a newspaper report and I also told you that on the basis of that, since you don’t have all the details, that I will refer it to the committee and the committee will get all the details and bring its report here.

“You know that was my discussion with you. So, this new dimension of a letter coming from the central bank was not discussed with me. But whatever it is, I think because we don’t have the details at this point, we cannot go into any further detailed discussion.”

The position of Mark was, however, not supported by senators on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.

The APC senators suggested that rather than the committee on finance handling the issue, it should be directed to the Senate Committee on Public Account.

However, Mark maintained his position, saying, “Please, there is no expenditure involved yet. This is money that we have not found, so there is no public account yet. The public account will come in when the money is spent. But whatever it is, please lay it on the table before we see who values it.”

He, thereafter, directed the Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Joshua Dariye, to ensure that the report was ready within a week.

But the APC senators warned that the allegation must not be swept under the carpet.

They told journalists after the plenary that they would ensure that they followed the probe to a logical conclusion.

Led by the Senate Minority Leader, George Akume, the APC senators said at a news conference that there was no cause to doubt the authenticity of the allegation of the missing fund.

Akume said, “The report came from a very authentic source. We have been told and we have every cause to believe that this money is missing. This document is coming from the Central Bank of Nigeria. It is an authentic source. This matter cannot be swept under the carpet. We are determined to follow it to the fullest.

“One of our responsibilities is to as much as possible identify with the people by ensuring that those of us who are charged with higher responsibilities conform with very high standards expected of people in public office.

“We have invited you (Alison-Madueke and NNPC management) on an issue that is very grave and central to good governance in our country. You are already aware of the missing $49bn. Now, this money is the value of crude oil export and proceeds from the NNPC.

“Section 162 (of the constitution) is very clear on where federally collected revenues are supposed to be lodged.  We have every cause to believe that this money is missing. This document here is from the Central Bank of Nigeria. This is a very authentic source. It is a very authentic document. The issue is who actually authorised the lodging of this money elsewhere?

“If at all the money is not missing, then who gave the authorisation for the opening of this account where the money is paid contrary to section 162 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?”

The Chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Oil Theft, Mr. Bahsir Adamu, told journalists that the committee would not condone any act of disrespect by any agency, particularly the NNPC.

“We are very serious with this investigation. We won’t hesitate to compel the NNPC or any agency that tries to take us for a ride. I am not prepared to allow anybody to rubbish my 15 years of experience in this House,” Adamu said.

He observed that illegal oil bunkering was a technical operation that would not succeed without the collaboration of highly-placed persons in and out of government.

According to him, the aim of the committee is to unmask the faces behind crude oil theft in order to save the country from the loss of billions of dollars daily.

Adamu said, “The level of oil theft is alarming and of grave concern to stakeholders. The oil and gas industry accounts for about two-third of government’s revenue and more than 90 per cent of export earnings in Nigeria.

“Illegal bunkering has caused Nigeria to lose an estimated $5bn (N780bn) yearly, amounting to $400bn since Nigeria’s independence.

“Statistics show that 350,000 barrels per day were lost to illegal bunkering in 2012, representing an increase of 45 per cent over the figure of 2011, and 67 per cent over that of 2010, while the trend for 2013 is even more alarming.

“Unless the government summons the will to fight the menace, the situation will worsen the country’s economic woes.

“The rising level of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, particularly in the Niger Delta region, has reached and assumed higher dimensions.

“The ugly development has made operators in the Nigerian oil and gas industry one of the most expensive in the world.”

On the scope of the investigation, Adamu said it would determine how deep pipelines were buried and if they were accessible to thieves; and determine how stolen crude oil was being transported.

The Speaker of the House, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, said the chamber had the responsibility to expose the oil thieves and “make people pay for their crime.”

Meanwhile, the House, in a separate resolution, directed its Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) to investigate the Federal Government’s plan to sell the country’s four refineries and report back within two weeks.

PUNCH