*As $722.6m NLNG dividends for 2021 not remitted to Federation Account
*₦200b spent on rehabilitating local refineries in 2021, yet none of the facilities were operational during that period
*Discrepancies surrounding $221.283m in overhead costs incurred by NAPIMS
WorldStage– The Federal Ministry of Finance has blamed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) for failing to provide the vital financial documents required to clear outstanding queries from the 2021–2023 Oil and Gas Sector Audit Report.
The revelation came during an investigative hearing before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Raymond Omachi, explicitly stated that the ministry lacks direct involvement in the transactions and has faced severe challenges getting NNPC Ltd and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to cooperate.
The multi-billion dollar queries raised by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) involve major financial discrepancies, including the $3 billion subsidy loan – a pre-export financing loan obtained in 2012 to settle fuel subsidies.
The audit disclosed that how the loan is being recovered from the monthly federation revenue remains completely unclear.
A total of $722.6 million paid by Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) to NNPC in 2021 as state dividends and interest was reportedly never remitted to the Federation Account.
The report highlighted that ₦200 billion was spent on rehabilitating local refineries in 2021, yet none of the facilities were operational during that period, including discrepancies surrounding $221.283 million in overhead costs incurred by the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) in 2021.
To break the logjam and enforce transparency, the Ministry of Finance has hired an external audit firm, Arthur Andersen LLP, to conduct an independent forensic audit and reconcile the disputed figures.
Senator Dankwambo also directed the Ministry of Finance to facilitate a joint meeting, stating that the Senate intends to use its constitutional powers to compel the heads of NNPC Ltd and NUPRC to sit at the table and produce the withheld records.
Lawmakers warned that the unresolved extractive-sector queries are under close monitoring by the international community, making swift disclosure in the national interest non-negotiable.
