The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives has established sub-committees to investigate the indebtedness of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and other oil and gas industry players to the federation account.
This decision follows concerns raised in the Auditor-General’s 2021 report on the consolidated financial statement against the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulator Commission (NUPRC). The report highlighted three key issues.
The first issue involves outstanding royalties due from NNPC totaling $253,952,693.07. The second concerns unjustified deductions by NNPC from joint venture royalties before remitting to the DPR (now NUPRC), totaling $204,853,744,047.39.
Additionally, the report cited outstanding royalties on oil, gas, concession rentals, and gas flared payable by operators to the federation account, totaling $2,260,448,992.45 and N48,216,163,192.67.
Responding to these concerns, NUPRC Chief Executive Engr. Gbenga Komolafe stated that the outstanding revenue due from NNPC as of December 31, 2021, has been largely settled, with $224.3 million paid, leaving a balance of $29.6 million.
Komolafe explained that NUPRC has sent multiple demand notices to NNPC to clear the outstanding debt and even sought intervention from the Honorable Minister of Finance.
Despite these efforts, NNPC has yet to settle the remaining balance. Komolafe emphasized that NUPRC has a revenue collection strategy in place, including sanctions and invocation of fine and penalty sections of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
The PAC, chaired by Hon. Bamidele Salam, will continue to investigate these matters to ensure accountability and transparency in the oil and gas sector.
