Last year a report by the Hart Group, a United Kingdom-based audit firm for the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), disclosed that about 65million barrels of crude oil could not be accounted for by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), between 1999 and 2004. Unknown to NEITI, the case was just a tip of the large scale fraud in the corporation.

According to NNPC, between 1999 and 2002, the nation produced and sold 316,445,301 barrels of crude oil in excess of what OPEC approved for it. It is pertinent to note that the excess production was not in any way criminal as such additional output were supposed to be for domestic refining as obtainable in other member countries.

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OPEC quota is normally shared amongst all the oil producing companies. The portion that was normally captured in the budget was the federation’s equity share, which, within that period was 58 per cent of the entire crude produced.

Going the price of crude at that time, which stood at an average of $25 per barrel, Nigeria should have earned additional revenue of $4.5billion from sales of the excess crude which supposed to be for domestic refining in the country between 1999 and 2002. At an average exchange rate of $1 to N111.6, the additional revenue was about N502.2 billion

On the missing 65 million barrels the NNPC, as usual told a grand lie. The NNPC said the missing crude was due to shortfalls in the amount of crude sent to refineries. Curiously, the same NNPC report said in 1999, about 99 million barrels was sent by its Crude Oil Marketing Department (COMD), but the refineries received 66 million, leaving a whooping 33 million barrels gap.

The House of Representatives which is in the middle of a probe of the sector, has unearthed several sleazy deals perpetuated by the Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo regime between 1999 and 2007. As defacto petroleum minister, assisted by the likes of the Central Bank Governor, Charles Soludo, former NNPC helmsman, Gaius Obeseki, and Funsho Kupolokun ran the corporation like a cult. The place stinks so badly. According to the lawmakers the operations of the NNPC “have been hijacked by a cartel and syndicate whose stock in trade is to service their selfish interest and the enthronement of all kinds of corrupt practices oozing from the place". These include importation of adulterated fuel, exportation of low pour fuel oil(LPFO), and its attendance consequences on the economy skewed oil blocks allocation, with the ex president's daughter Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello playing a big role, lack of due diligence in the lifting of crude oil, and complete absence of accountability on the domestic crude oil utilization allocated to the NNPC.

A close look at the books of the NNPC would reveal statistical discrepancies between the corporation and its supervising and monitoring agencies, in the areas of crude allocation, sales and proceeds arising thereof, and the remittance of same to the federation account.

Pointblanknews.com is aware that the NNPC may have submitted some reports to the ad-hoc committee, but it need to do more. The corporation should, as guaranteed by section 5 of the NNPC act do the following: make public the actual allocation of domestic crude oil to the NNPC as well as the quantity of refined petroleum products derived thereof for domestic consumption and revenue, if any, from May 1999 to May 2007, make public the identities, particulars, status and the basis of the engagement of companies enterprises and individuals by the NNPC for the importation and exportation of petroleum products, as well as who and who got oil blocks.

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The NNPC should in the spirit of accountability and transparency also tell the nation how much has been expended on the rehabilitation of the four existing refineries, storage facilities and functional status, and disclose all budgetary allocations to the PPRA for the purpose of importation of refined petroleum products, the use which such allocations were made and all other financial transactions entered into by the agency and the proceeds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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