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NNPC Didn’t Remit $81.2bn in Four Years – Reps’ Panel

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  • NNPC Didn’t Remit $81.2bn in Four Years – Reps’ Panel

The House of Representatives believes that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation did not remit a total of $81.2bn crude oil proceeds to the Federation Account in four years.

Its ad hoc committee, which is investigating the alleged export of $17bn worth of undeclared crude oil and gas resources, has demanded explanations from the corporation.

The investigation covers the year 2011 to 2014.

Our correspondent gathered on Monday that the committee, which is chaired by a member of the All Progressives Congress from Adamawa State, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, had analysed documents from various sources, including the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Central Bank of Nigeria, Department of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC itself before coming to the conclusion.

In its set of questions sent to the NNPC, a copy of which was obtained exclusively in Abuja, the committee noted that the total receipts from crude proceeds for the four years tallied at $123.9bn.

However, lawmakers found out that the NNPC remitted only $42.7bn to the Federation Account, “giving a frightening shortfall of $81.2bn.”

The average crude oil prices per barrel for the respective years were $111.90 (2011); $112.01 (2012); $110.12 (2013); and $101.91 (2014).

The barrels sold for the respective years were 301.7 million; 296.4 million; 267.1 million; and 270.7 million, bringing the total for the four years to 1.136 billion barrels.

According to the committee, the year-by-year breakdown of the expected earnings were $33.7bn (2011); $33.2bn (2012); $29.4bn (2013); and $27.5bn (2014), totalling $123.9bn.

But, the committee said the corporation declared only $42.7bn, a figure which was confirmed by the CBN.

This was broken down into $14.3bn (2011); $10.2bn (2012); $8.4bn (2013); and $9.8bn (2014).

“The committee’s worries are anchored on the fact that out of the expected receipt of $123.9bn, the CBN confirmed a total receipt of only $42.7bn, giving a shortfall of $81.2bn,” the document stated.

In addition, the NNPC was asked to explain the conflicting reports by the corporation and the DPR on crude lifting from Pennington in 2011.

While the NNPC claimed that 991.4 million barrels and 960.4 million barrels were lifted in May and October, respectively, the DPR reported that there was only one lifting of 960.4 million barrels in October.

“The committee wants you (NNPC) to prove how the sale of 991.4 million barrels of crude oil was consummated,” the document added.

The corporation was further directed to provide answers to the queries within one week.

The committee is investigating allegations that major government agencies colluded with International Oil Companies to short-change Nigeria in the crude and gas exports deals.

The House had by its resolution in December 2016, ordered the probe after lawmakers established evidence of fraudulent transactions and irregularities in crude and gas exports within the period under review.

Information at the disposal of the committee put the figure of undeclared crude shortfalls between 2011 and 2014 at 57,830,000 barrels.

“This translates to well over $12bn worth of crude shipped to the United States. Also, over $3bn worth was shipped to China and $839,522,600 worth of crude was taken to Norway. These figures were conclusively ascertained by buyers, bills of lading, arrival dates, destination ports, quantity of crude oil and other documented information,” the document stated.

The US was listed as the leading destination for the crude out of the 51 countries that received crude exports from Nigeria within the period.

“The report was made available to the former President; Office of the Attorney General of the Federation; Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency; and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and that as of today (2016), the country has to its credit over $17bn of recoverable shortfalls from undeclared crude oil exports to global destination,” it added.

In the case of liquefied natural gas shortfalls, the document noted a loss of 727,460 metric tonnes, estimated at about $461.04bn, firmly established shortfall from shipment to seven countries.

“These have been established as undeclared cargoes,” the committee stated in the document.

The committee named many IOCs for questioning over their alleged roles in the transactions.

These include Shell (US) Trading Company; Mobil Producing Nigeria; Chevron Nigeria Limited; ESSO Exploration and Production Nigeria; ExxonMobil; Brass Oil Services Company Nigeria Limited; Consolidated Oil Limited; Star Deep Water Petroleum Limited; Supreme Jute and Kntex Limited; and Duke Oil Company Limited.

Several of the IOCs have already appeared before the committee to explain their level of involvement in the deals.

Is the CEO and Founder of Investors King Limited. He is a seasoned foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and other prominent platforms. With over two decades of experience in global financial markets, Olukoya is well-recognized in the industry.

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Economy

President Tinubu Approves Concrete Redesign for Abuja-Kaduna Road Amid Contract Termination

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The Federal Government has announced plans to address the difficulties faced by road users on the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road with the redesign of the dual carriageway.

This announcement was made by the Minister of Works, David Umahi via a statement on Wednesday.

The Ministry revealed that the 127 kilometers project has been approved by President Bola Tinubu.

This development comes two days after the Ministry of Works announced the termination of its contract with Julius Berger for the Section I (Abuja-Kaduna) of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway project in FCT, Kaduna, and Kano States.

Investors King understands that the contract for the rehabilitation of the road was awarded to Messrs Julius Berger (Nig.) Plc on December 20, 2017.

The project, initially valued at N155.7 billion, with a 36-month completion period was further categorized into three sections.

However, only Section II (Kaduna-Zaria) has been completed and partially handed over.

Section III (Zaria-Kano) is partially finished while Section I remains in a severely deteriorated state.

A statement from the Ministry explained that the decision to terminate the contract with Berger was based on non-compliance with reviewed cost, scope, and terms, stoppage of work, and refusal to remobilise to site.

The ministry on Wednesday, November 6, confirmed that Section I has been redesigned and re-scoped.

The statement reads, “The President, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR has approved that the remaining 127 kilometres of the Rehabilitation of Abuja – Kaduna – Zaria – Kano Dual Carriageway, Section I (Abuja – Kaduna) be redesigned using continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) instead of the present asphaltic one.”  

“The contract, divided into three (3) sections, was awarded to Messrs Julius Berger (Nig.) PLC on 20th December 2017 at an initial sum of N155, 748,178,425.50 billion (one hundred and fifty-five billion, seven hundred and forty-eight million, one hundred and seventy-eight thousand, four hundred and twenty-five naira, fifty kobo) with a completion period of thirty-six (36) months.” 

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Tax Expert Warns Tinubu: VAT, PAYE Hikes Will Deepen Hardship for Nigerians

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Due to Nigeria’s economic situation, tax expert Adebisi Oderinde has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to halt plans to increase the VAT and Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) tax rates.

Oderinde, who is also the CEO of AOC-Adebisi Oderinde & Co, made the statement during the inauguration of the company’s Head Office in the Kara area of Ogun State.

He said the country’s economic conditions are challenging and particularly unfavorable for SMEs and warned that implementing tax reform could destabilize many small businesses as inflation has already eroded purchasing power in Nigeria.

With over 28 years of experience as a tax consultant, Oderinde noted that new tax reforms would likely worsen hardship across the country.

“My advice is to make hay while the sun shines, as the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and slow and steady wins the race. The country is hard! As a tax practitioner, I continue to pray for our President, but he must heed the advice of elders, especially when it concerns tax reform,” he said.

“This is not the right time to reform any tax, nor to adjust rates. Nigerians’ purchasing power is very low. While some may think of VAT reform as beneficial, it would have a negative impact, especially on Lagos State. One part of the reform aims to cancel the consumption tax, which would hit Lagos hard, as the state earns more from consumption tax than any other state in the federation,” he added.

Oderinde further advised northern Nigeria not to support the proposed policy, warning it could disproportionately affect the region.

“They also want to increase PAYE, and recent data from the NBS in 2023 shows that the total IGR from the 36 states plus the FCT is about N2.4tn, with PAYE accounting for about 63%. If PAYE is raised, it will impact many states significantly. Instead of focusing on VAT, the northern states should consider that an increase in PAYE would affect them even more than VAT,” he explained.

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Power Restored Hours After Lastest Grid Collapse

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Electricity has been restored in some parts of the states that were hitherto affected by the nation’s power grid collapse.

Investors King gathered that some states including Lagos, Osun, Federal Capital Territory among others now have light.

Recall that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had on Tuesday announced the latest National Grid collapse.

Checks by Investors King, however, revealed that the last disruption was the tenth time Nigeria would be experiencing total blackout due to grid collapse in about nine months in 2024 alone.

The situation has been raising concerns from Nigerians and other stakeholders even as others alleged that the collapse has led to inferno in people’s homes among other property destruction.

The General Manager of TCN Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, had assured members of the public that the grid collapse which occurred at 1:52 pm on November 5 would be speedily fixed.

The GM revealed that the grid collapse was caused by line and generator trippings, adding that efforts were on to rectify it.

Mbah had disclosed how the national grid experienced a partial disturbance due to a series of line and generator trippings that caused instability in the grid and, consequently, the partial disturbance of the system.

Each time the disruption through citizens into darkness, businesses are affected as many Nigerians task the Federal Government to tackle the menace.

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