Those Alleging Illegal Withdrawal Of $1.05bn Grossly Ignorant – NLNG

The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas(NLNG) on Thursday took a swipe at those claiming that the sum of $1.05bn was illegally withdrawn from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) dividend account, describing their allegations as untrue and baseless.

The House of Representatives had directed an investigation following the adoption of a motion moved by the Minority Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu.

The House had mandated, its committee on public accounts to invite the managements of the NNPC as well as that of the NLNG to conduct a thorough investigation on activities that has taken place on the dividends account and report back in four weeks.

But reacting to the development, the NLNG in a Tweet on Thursday said it was totally baseless and untrue that its Managing Director, Tony Attah, and the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari were signatories to an account and moving funds belonging to the company without approval.

3/3 The governance and controls around the Company's finances make the allegations against the Managing Director and the GMD an impossible scenario and therefore members of the public are advised to disregard the allegations as it is totally baseless and simply untrue.

— Nigeria LNG (@nigeriaLNG) July 16, 2020

The Gas company further explained that the governance and controls around the Company’s finances make the allegations against its Managing Director and the GMD an impossible scenario.

It said, ”For the purpose of clarity, NLNG wishes to state that the company, as a private limited liability company, duly pays dividends to its shareholders and continues to conduct its business in full compliance with regulations and the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“NLNG strictly follows extant protocols in the payment of dividends as value generated from the business and ensures that the process concerning payment of dividends to its shareholders is transparent and in full compliance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Expectedly, NLNG’s involvement in the process ends with the payment of such dividend.

“The governance and controls around the Company’s finances make the allegations against the Managing Director and the GMD an impossible scenario and therefore members of the public are advised to disregard the allegations as it is totally baseless and simply untrue.”

While emphasizing that it focuses on delivering value to both its shareholders and the country, the NLNG further urged members of the public to disregard all the allegations and reports.