Contrary to claims in some quarters, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited did not withhold the $55m Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas dividend that was alleged should have been paid into the nation’s coffers, THE WHISTLER can authoritatively report.
There had been reports (Not THE WHISTLER) that the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) had initiated an investigation to determine what the NNPC Limited did with some Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) profits.
The Report had claimed that an Ad-hoc committee is analysing and comparing amounts owed for subsidies, taxes, royalties, and other payments with amounts received or paid thus far.
In the report, the FAAC post mortem sub-committee was said to have alleged that the NLNG paid a dividend of $275m and that the state-owned company used $220m of the whole payout to pay off the nation’s obligation on subsidy.
It was further stated that the NNPC withheld $55m, or 20 percent of what should have been paid into the nation’s coffers, which the committee deemed unlawful.
But findings revealed that at no time did the NNPC Limited withheld the $55m.
THE WHISTLER investigations revealed that in the month of May when the NNPC was being owed N4.1trn for fuel subsidy by the federal government, the national oil company approached the federal government to provide the needed fund for importation of petrol.
It was learnt that at the time the NNPC Limited made the request, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari was winding down and preparing to hand over to the then winner of the 2023 presidential election, Bola Tinubu.
Findings further revealed that due to the fact that the government was not willing to plunge the country into another round of fuel scarcity crisis, the government gave approval that the sum of N400bn be given to NNPC as a loan to the federal government by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The fund, according to THE WHISTLER investigations, was used to defray some of the fuel subsidy debts owed oil marketers.
Before the removal of petrol subsidy, the NNPC Limited had been the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria and has continued to play this role for several years running, bearing the huge cost of fuel subsidy on behalf of the government.
Despite huge budgetary allocation for subsidy payment under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, no amount was actually paid to the NNPC Limited.
Other private oil marketers stopped importing petrol into Nigeria due to the difficulty encountered in accessing the United States dollars, required for the import of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS).
The NNPCL on behalf of the federation spent about N400bn monthly and around N4.8trn yearly, a gesture which had been described as unsustainable.
It was further learnt that in June this year, the amount needed to import petrol into the country was $700m. The NNPC again approached the government for funding.
However, out of this $700m, only $275m which was sourced from the NLNG dividend account was made available to the NNPC Limited by the government.
The entire $275m, according to investigations was paid by the NNPC to oil marketers to enable the national oil firm reduce the level of its indebtedness.
The source said, “The amount requested by NNPC was $700m. The government provided $275m from NLNG dividend account. So, the NNPC got the money and that was what the company used to reduce the debt owed marketers. No dollar was withheld by NNPC. So, anybody saying NNPC withheld $55m is telling a lie.”