NNPC, CBN stole $17bn crude money, Reps alleges

The House of Representatives, on Monday, said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in conjunction with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stole the sum of $17 billion crude oil revenue when it failed to remit same to the Federation account between January, 2011-December, 2014.

The disclosure was made by the Ad-hoc Committee of the House investigating $17 billion stolen from sale of crude oil and natural gas

The Committee chaired by Rep. Abdulrazaq Namdas had discovered that only $7 billion out of the $47.2 billion made from crude sales from January 2011 – December 2014 was remitted to government by the NNPC.

It also noted and queried why the CBN was collecting and making deposits from government agencies into the Federal Reserve Bank in New York against extant banking regulations.

The Committee’s investigation of the apex bank further revealed that only N35 billion out of $47.2 billion was remitted into the Excess Crude Account (ECA) managed by the CBN by the NNPC.

The lawmakers had queried why only $7 billion out of $47.2 billion gotten from crude oil sales was made available for the three tiers of government for sharing, noting that both NNPC and CBN shortchanged Nigerians.

The lawmakers said that the ongoing probe had shown that more than $17 billion was stolen from the transaction by the NNPC between January 2011 and December 2014.

The Committee chairman, who threatened the apex bank with a damning report, said that the responsibility of opening and managing a revenue account rests with the CBN.

However, while fielding questions, a representative of the CBN Governor, Mr. Jack Pitecu, told the Committee that the apex bank is not interested in who opens what account, rather it is concerned with regulations.

He had told the lawmakers that the apex bank does not keep audit of accounts of government agencies and explained that it is the responsibility of such agencies.