The fresh unauthorized probe of expenditure of N3.5 trillion at NNPC



          
The recent institution of a four-member committee to probe an alleged unauthorised expenditure of N3.5 trillion at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is not surprising. The investigation is in keeping with repeated assurances by President Muhammadu Buhari that he would look into the books of the NNPC and bring those who may have misappropriated public funds in the organisation to justice.  The National Economic Council (NEC) raised the committee made up of four state governors to probe the allegation few days after the president dissolved the board of the Corporation. The governors are Udom Emmanuel, Adams Oshiomhole, Mallam Nasir el Rufai and Ibrahim Dankwanbo of Akwa Ibom, Edo, Kaduna and Gombe States, respectively.
Although this probe was long expected, the decision on it was reportedly reached after the receipt of some information from the Director in charge of funds in the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation. It has been alleged that out of about N8.1 trillion that accrued into the coffers of the Corporation between 2012 and May 2015, only N4.3 trillion was remitted into the Federation Account for sharing by the three tiers of government in the country, while NNPC withheld and spent N3.5 trillion. What this means is that the money NNPC used to run its operations during the period was much more than the amount that accrued to the Federal Government from the Corporation.
Undoubtedly, the NNPC has for many years been in the vortex of massive corruption allegations.  Opaque book-keeping is widely believed to shroud the lack of accountability and adherence to due process in the Corporation. It has, in fact, been alleged in some quarters that NNPC is one of most corrupt organisations in the world.
                       


Unsurprisingly, therefore, all past probes into the affairs of the Corporation, including the ones done by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), had questioned the financial operations of the organisation.
In 2013, the NNPC again came under intense scrutiny after the former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), (now Emir of Kano), Lamido Sanusi, alleged that it failed to remit $20 billion  proceeds from the sale of crude oil to the Federation Account between 2012 and 2013, contrary to  section 162 of the Constitution. Sanusi’s allegation led to the appointment of PwC to conduct a forensic audit of the organisation.  The report of the audit that was submitted to former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has become controversial.
Altogether, the investigation of NNPC’s expenditure of N3.5 trillion without approval is a step in the right direction. It is a good start to the unraveling of the financial infractions at the Corporation.  The probe should be thorough and anyone found to have been involved in the misappropriation or diversion of any funds should be diligently prosecuted. For too long, NNPC has stumbled from one corruption allegation scandal to another. It is time to either prove these allegations wrong, or rest them.
We, however, caution against a witch-hunt of any particular person. The probe should be objective and dispassionate. The investigation committee must firmly keep in view its objective, which is to recover as much as is possible of any stolen funds, while those found involved in the mishandling of the funds are brought to justice. NNPC is in urgent need of cleansing. A total overhaul of the system is expedient. Being the keeper of the nation’s oil revenue, accountability and transparency should not be compromised in the organisation.
Beyond the recovery of looted funds and the bringing of persons found to be involved in corruption at the organisation to book, we call for a total overhaul of its financial procedures and systems to make it very difficult, if not impossible, to loot the organisation through reckless expenditure by its management. Spending money at will was one of the numerous accusations against the dissolved Board. Institutional safeguards are necessary to instill financial discipline and institute a proper accounting system.
Besides the probe of this expenditure, it is necessary to look into all areas of leakages and inefficiency at NNPC. We advise the committee to seek useful information from members of the public through a call for Memoranda.  The committee members should also avail themselves the PwC forensic report and study it carefully to arrive at an informed conclusion.
The critical issue is to sanitise the Corporation and ensure that it dutifully performs its statutory duties. There should be accountability, transparency, prudent management of revenue and prompt payment of crude oil receipts into the Federation Account, as provided for in the Constitution.
A searchlight should also be beamed on subsidiaries of NNPC such as the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), to ensure that their operations are above board.

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