House C’ttee uncovers N32bn revenue leakage at NUPRC

*Over N909m diverted to private accounts

BY TOM OKPE

House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, PAC, has revealed a case of an in-house missing of over N32billion of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, on revenue generated for Federal Government between 2015 to 2024.

The Committee Chairman, Rep Bamidele Salami made this revelation during the Committee’s meeting at the National Assembly Abuja, expressing serious concerns regarding reported revenue leakages and non-compliance with standard operating procedures.

Among the findings, it was discovered also that N909,392,169.74 had been transferred directly to private accounts in Deposit Money Banks without adhering to TSA protocols.

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Rep Salami said: “The PAC of the Nigerian House of Representatives, discovered N32,151,775,466.87 revenue leakages at the documents, submitted by NUPRC, on revenue generated for the Federal Government between 2015 to 2022.

“The investigation also highlighted significant discrepancies, including N15,476,269,397.10 in transactions listed in Remita that were absent from the NUPRC data set, and N6,332,212,384.25 in transactions from the NUPRC data set that did not appear in Remita.

“Additionally, there were notable value discrepancies in transactions between Remita and NUPRC, with N388,103,353.31 reported lower and N909,392,169.74 reported higher in Remita.

“In light of these findings, the Committee unanimously ordered Engr Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC, along with other officials, to appear before them next Monday to explain the discovered infractions.”

These developments raised serious concerns about financial management and transparency within the NUPRC, prompting the Committee to call for a thorough investigation into these alarming irregularities.