Petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke yesterday directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to defray the outstanding $1.48billion Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) signature bonus, taxes and royalties in line with the recommendation of the forensic audit report.
The forensic audit report on the alleged missing $20bn un-remitted oil revenue carried out by auditing giant, PriceWaterhouseCoopers had absolved the corporation of culpability over the allegation of non- remittance of $20bn.
It said that what is due for remittance to the Federation Account is $1.48bn by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), being signature bonus, taxes and royalties on the assets transferred to the Corporation’s upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company.
In a statement, the Corporation noted that the release of the forensic audit report has finally laid to rest the controversy surrounding allegations of “missing oil revenue” or non-remittance to the Federation Account.
The Corporation explained that it was not true that it was indicted in the Forensic Audit Report as being speculated in some quarters as the $1.48bn that the audit firm recommended the Corporation to remit to the Federation Account was not part of the alleged un-remitted revenues from crude lifting.
NNPC explained that the $1.48bn was never in dispute as it is made up of statutory payments such as signature bonus, taxes and royalties which are statutory payments that come with asset acquisition.
It stated that the delay in payment was due to the reconciliation processes between the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the NNPC.
The Corporation stated that the forensic audit report and the Senate Committee on Finance report on the un-remitted revenue all alluded to the fact that NPDC reported crude oil revenues of $5.11bn.
It explained that the forensic audit acknowledged that the total cash remitted into the Federation Accounts in relation to the crude lifting in the period under review was $50.81bn and not $47bn and that subsidy on premium motor spirit and dual purpose kerosene stood at $8.7bn.
On kerosene subsidy, the Corporation said that the Forensic Audit Report also clarified that subsidy on DPK is still in force as the presidential directive of 19th October, 2009 was not gazetted in line with provisions of section 6 sub section 1 of the Petroleum Act of 1969.
The Forensic Audit Report also acknowledged that Section 7 Subsection 4 of NNPC Act empowers the Corporation to defray its costs and expenses including the cost of its subsidiaries from crude oil revenues. Though it also recommended that the laws be reviewed to make the Corporation meet its costs and expenses entirely from the value it creates.
The Federal Ministry of Finance last year hired the PriceWaterHouseCoopers to investigate the veracity of the allegation by the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that $48.9bn and later $20bn was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC.
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