Again, the financial transparency of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC is under public scrutiny over missing N210 trillion in its 2017-2023 audited financial statements.
On Wednesday last week, at a session of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Aliyu Wadada, the Nigerian public was blown open to the missing N210 trillion on NNPC’s audited statement.
Wadada did not mince words when he and his committee issued a one-week ultimatum to NNPC to account for the missing N210 billion.
The Committee, chaired by Wadada, vowed last week to pursue the matter to the full extent of its oversight powers.
As a justification, DAILY POST reports that the Chief Financial Officer of the state-owned oil firm, Adedapo Segun, said the missing $210 trillion are cash calls requested by joint venture (JV) partners and settlement to the JVs.
However, concerns have been raised that the investigation of the N210 trillion missing funds would vanish into thin air like other probes in the past.
In June last year, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project filed a suit over N500 billion unremitted to the Federation Account between October 2024 and December 2024. Other missing funds in the last five years have also not seen the light of day.
Reacting, Transparency International Nigeria’s Country Director, Auwal Rafsanjani demanded for punishment for those involved in the disappearance of the N210 missing funds from NNPC.
According to him, the Nigerian Senate and the government had in the past shown lukewarm interest in prosecuting those involved in the huge missing funds in NNPC.
He blamed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and other presidents who have seized positions as substantive minister of petroleum, which has made the institution unaccountable and a conduit pipe for corruption since 1999.
He alleged that Tinubu, former President Muhammadu Buhari, and Obasanjo have used NNPC as their cash cow.
“This is something that has been going on in NNPC without any repercussions. No serious deterrence has been taken on the several missing funds and unremitted funds in NNPC.
“This has been happening since 1999. NNPC has become a major cash cow, or like an ATM, for so many government officials without accounting for it. This huge amount of money reflects the rot in NNPC without direct impact on Nigerians.
“There is so much waste in the organisation. However, because all the presidents in Nigeria, including Tinubu, are using NNPC for their selfish reasons, there is minimum transparency. The revenue for NNPC is not accounted for the way it should be.
“It is worrisome and sad that this thing is happening without anything to stop it because of its beneficiaries. Virtually all the presidents except Jonathan made themselves Minister of Petroleum. It is a collective failure in Nigeria over the years.
“If we have a country governed by a system, we should be able to deal with those involved in the missing N210 trillion fund in NNPC.
“I suggest that once there is clarity on the missing funds, those involved should be made to account,” he said.
Similarly, a popular energy expert, managing partner of BBH Consulting, and convener of the Public Interest Advocacy Network (PIAN), Barr. Ameh Madaki feared that the N210 trillion scandal would eventually fade without deterrence.
According to him, the manner in which government authorities handle cases of missing funds in NNPC had led to a loss of confidence in the country.
“The opaque manner in which the Nigerian oil and gas industry has been operated for years has been a matter of sustained concern to most industry experts.
“And the fact that all these are always swept under the carpet after the next scandal breaks has been the way things have been for decades.
“It is clear that the current scandal around NNPC finances will once again fade into the stratosphere, like all the others.
“It is, therefore, difficult to make any informed judgement about the outcome of the current scandal.
“It is counterproductive to exert energies on it because the outcomes are totally unpredictable,” he told DAILY POST on Monday.
SOURCE: dailypost.ng