N6tr oil revenue missing in 1 year - Reps

AHouse of Representatives panel yesterday alleged that Nigeria may have been short-changed to the tune of N6 trillion due to nonremittance of revenues to the federation account from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

The adhoc committee investigating revenue leakages in DPR and other subsidiaries of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the N6 trillion was not remitted between 2016 and 2017.

The panel, chaired by Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (PDP, C/River), said during a meeting in Abuja that Duke Oil, a subsidiary of NNPC, appears to be the main culprit in non-remittance to the consolidated revenue account of the federation.

He said the leakages were as a result of lack of enforcement on the part of DPR, which should be the regulator on oil lifting.

The panel said its initial findings revealed that the amount was largely not remitted by Duke Oil, which is one of the 21 oil companies given the contracts for lifting Nigerian products.

Jarigbe said Duke Oil, registered in Panama with its head office in London, has been lifting Nigerian oil, especially special products, but that it was not remitting the actual amount it ought to and that the company does not pay taxes in Nigeria.

Some of the products lifted by Duke Oil, he said, included naphtha, condensate, fuel oil, pentane plus, LPG among others, saying the company alone lifts over 90,000 barrel of crude per day.

The N6trn, Jarigbe said, covered royalties and other charges that were supposed to be paid to the Nigerian government.

The panel consequently resolved to summon the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to give an up-to-date account of the actual amount remitted to the consolidated revenue of the federation, through DPR as well as all refineries to give stock profile of oil lifting.