Feb. 24, 2014
Vanguard
BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU
ABUJA—AS controversy continues to trail the alleged unremitted $20 billion by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to the federation account, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NDPC, has denied receiving $6 billion from NNPC.
It was alleged that $6 billion which was part of the unremitted fund was given to NPDC, a subsidiary company of NNPC, but the management of NPDC at the Senate panel sharply contradicted the NNPC claim as it denied receiving any such money from the corporation.
The Managing Director, NPDC, Victor Briggs told the committee that what the company received was only funds to cover its capital and operational expenditure from NNPC but he did not mention the amount that was paid to NPDC.
Testifying before the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Committee on Finance investigating the alleged missing money from the federation account, Mr. Briggs said, “NPDC will like to confirm that it received funds from NNPC to cover its capital and operating expenditures as approved by NNPC for the NNPC funded assets during the period under review.
“We did not in the NPDC account receive $6 billion. We did not rely on NNPC for the funding of our activities. Like we stated in the letter,
“From the account managed from the NNPC, royalties and taxes, we received only what is required to fund the budget. The exact amount will be forwarded in writing to the committee.”
He assured the committee that before February 28, the company would provide the committee with the exact amount paid by the NNPC for its capital and operational expenditures.
The NPDC boss said that the NNPC was only mandated to contribute funds to cover its asset and nothing more, adding that though the NPDC is an auxiliary corporation set up by the NNPC for upstream business, it had other sponsors and was legally required to work within the service and strategic contract terms.
He further said that he barely received enough to cater for assets contributed by the NNPC.
“There is a funding relationship. The NPDC has service and strategic contract with the NNPC which pays specific amount to cater for its asset in the company. We did not receive $ 6billion from the NNPC. We, however, received specific amount to cover the asset as statutorily required,” he submitted.
The amount in contention was part of the money the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had said the NNPC ought to have remitted to the federation account but was not.
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