The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Tuesday said the  report credited to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, where he alleged that it withheld the sum of $49.8 billion representing about 76 per cent of the total crude oil revenues from January 2012 to July 2013 was false.

The corporation in a statement signed by its General Manager, Media Relations Department, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, in Abuja said the allegation by the CBN was borne out of its  misunderstanding of the workings of the oil and gas industry and the modality for remitting crude oil sales revenue into the federation account.

Ibrahim stated that contrary to the CBN's claim that it lifted about 594.024 million barrels of crude oil between January 2012 and July 2013, the actual crude oil lifted within the period was 618.55 millon barrels and that the CBN had under-quoted the figures.

He said in the statement: "For the avoidance of doubt, it needs to be stated that the figure of 594.024 million barrels of crude oil given by the CBN as the total crude oil lifting for the period of January 2012 to July 2013 does not represent the correct picture of crude oil lifting for the period.
“From our records, the correct figure is 618.55million barrels. This shows that the CBN understated the actual crude lifting by 4.13 per cent."

Ibrahim further explained that revenues from crude oil liftings are in various categories, namely equity crude, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), royalty, third party financing and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

He added that revenues from each of these categories are statutorily collected by different agencies of the government and that the NNPC collects only one of the aforementioned categories, namely equity crude.

"Petroleum Profit Tax is collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), royalty goes to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), third party financing goes for research, development, programme and satellite fields development, while NPDC goes to NPDC for upstream development," he stated.

Ibrahim also noted that: "While NNPC pays proceeds from equity crude directly to the federation account with the CBN, the FIRS and DPR pay PPT and royalty respectively into the federation account with the CBN.

The sum total of these proceeds make up the alleged unremitted revenues."
"The 24 per cent of total crude oil revenue receipts which the CBN governor is reported to have acknowledged that NNPC remitted represents the proceeds from the equity lifting which NNPC is directly responsible for.

The alleged unremitted 76 per cent was paid to the agencies that are statutorily empowered to receive them for onward remittance into the federation account," Ibrahim added.

He also stressed the need for institutions of the federal government and top government functionaries to seek understanding of issues that are not clear to them from relevant agencies rather than go public with misleading information that is capable of creating public disaffection, adding that the NNPC is available at all times to meet with all relevant stakeholders to clarify such issues.
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nnpc-rejects-cbns-49-8bn-non-remittance-claim/166365/

@gregtochi, God bless you...

taharqa: @gregtochi, God bless you...

A well earned prayer.

And like you noted, the Thisday version is even more clearer. Sanusi is either clearly confused or deliberately mischievous. Were I to be the president, I would send him to all state and some privately own TV and Radio stations go and personally retract his damaging publication. After which I will sack him. He (Sanusi) has overstayed his usefulness.

ballabriggs: Another crude attempt to digress from the topic. Is the NNPC man lacking an understanding of the contents of Lamido Sanusi's letter.

The CBN asks in the letter, where is my foreign exchange?

You the NNPC has exported crude and under the export laws, the proceeds from these exports must be remitted by the NNPC, the exporter and not the FIRS or DPR.

To an extent, the CBN cares less about what has been paid into the federation account as that is an issue for the fiscal authorities. The CBN is concerned about its foreign exchange as this is at the center of its monetary policy direction.

So Mr NNPC who exported and did not remit forex to the CBN should explain what has happened. In this case, the CBN does not know the DPR and FIRS. It knows the exporter, the NNPC.

Toy soldiers.

ballabriggs:

You must be foaming in your mouth as your reply to my post shows you as one hell of a mental patient. Go and take your meds then you can read my post again.

The topic is for matured minds. If you do not fall to the category, fallout.

Sanusi has always being political in many ways in the past.
This was his hesame hediot that gave N1000 million to kano state for a mere skirmish from the CBN coffers only to give a meagre N20 to churches ravaged by the senseless BH after he received a backlash from the public.

ballabriggs: Another crude attempt to digress from the topic. Is the NNPC man lacking an understanding of the contents of Lamido Sanusi's letter.

The CBN asks in the letter, where is my foreign exchange?

You the NNPC has exported crude and under the export laws, the proceeds from these exports must be remitted by the NNPC, the exporter and not the FIRS or DPR.

To an extent, the CBN cares less about what has been paid into the federation account as that is an issue for the fiscal authorities. The CBN is concerned about its foreign exchange as this is at the center of its monetary policy direction.

So Mr NNPC who exported and did not remit forex to the CBN should explain what has happened. In this case, the CBN does not know the DPR and FIRS. It knows the exporter, the NNPC.

Sorry son I don't really get it, abeg lay it out for use wey no go skool, so when I dey support I'll understand d full gist. Are u sayin dat d moneys CBN is askin for is Not what d NNPC is explaining? Abeg u fit explain d 2 lot in laymen's terms. Thank you

Longeria: This is the same man who stole over 100 million naira through deceptive donations. How many boko haram victims benefited that.

Don't mind the useless jihadist

So with this explanation from the NNPC, the next reasonable thing to do is to confirm from the DPR and FIRS that their respective revenues collected have been duly lodged into the Federation Account, so as to be certain that there was no diversion of funds.

No be so?

HNosegbe: So with this explanation from the NNPC, the next reasonable thing to do is to confirm from the DPR and FIRS that their respective revenues collected have been duly lodged into the Federation Account, so as to be certain that there was no diversion of funds.

No be so?

DPR and FIRS are different agents of govt. SLS accused NNPC which is also a different agency, which came out to refute SLS's accusation explaining how these monies are remitted.

These agencies are statutorily independent. It is the duty not of NNPC, but DPR and FIRS to tell us what they had done with their own share of the crude oil sales.

To demand NNPC, which is btw corrupt to confirm with DPR and FIRS is asking the impossible. Rather the CBN, with whom all these monies is alleged to have been lodged should go through its documents and correct whatever misunderstanding there is.

I want to see how those commentators who have been quick on the trigger to pour out as much bile and opprobrium as their corrupt minds would allow, respond to the article copied in below. You know yourselves

$49.8 billion controversy: NNPC admits owing oil revenue
•CBN Governor vindicated


14/12/2013



The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has accepted that it owes the Federation Account a huge chunk of crude oil revenue.

Chairman of the Finance Commissioners Forum, Mr. Timothy Odah, disclosed this while speaking with newsmen on the outcome of yesterday’s edition of the monthly Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting held in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had in a September 25 letter to

President Goodluck Jonathan accused NNPC of failing to account for $49.8 billion out of revenue from crude oil sales between January 2012 and July 2013.

While the NNPC Management has been publicly denying owing the Federation Account, NNPC representatives at the FAAC meeting admitted that the parastatal was indeed owing part of crude oil revenue, Odah disclosed.

“The NNPC has admitted that truly they owe the Federation Account and by that information, we referred the deliberation on the figure of what they say they owe to the next FAAC meeting. This is so that the technical committee will be able to examine NNPC accounts before we will be able to publicise or accept the figure they have quoted,” said Odah, who is the Ebonyi State Commissioner for Finance.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes Odah as describing the confession of NNPC’s representatives at the FAAC meeting as “important” and a welcome development.

“You know previously that it has always been a matter of controversy. They say they don’t owe and sometimes they will say that it is the Federation Account that owes them, but this time they have accepted that they owe,” Odah stated

“Although, the difference between what we claim they owe and what they claim they owe, is very marginal,” he added.

Odah said the FAAC technical sub-committee would begin to work on measures to further scrutinise remittances by the NNPC in order to avoid such occurrences in future.

•Photo shows CBN Governor Sanusi who blew the whistle on the missing billions.

Source: http://www.newsexpressngr.com/

@e-Gorilla, sorri e-Guerilla, the money the Commissioner of Ebonyi was talking about has NOTHING to do with d phantom '$50bn'. The Commissioner never made ANY link to it nor was it what he was refering to; that 'link' was made in d headline by Shameless PT, from whom this blogger-Newspaper. NNPC has been paying a particular sum to FAAC every month for sm time now, I bliv about #7billion each month; a sum they also paid in dat last FAAC meeting 3 days ago.

taharqa: @e-Gorilla, sorri e-Guerilla, the money the Commissioner of Ebonyi was talking about has NOTHING to do with d phantom '$50bn'. The Commissioner never made ANY link to it nor was it what he was refering to; that 'link' was made in d headline by Shameless PT, from whom this blogger-Newspaper. NNPC has been paying a particular sum to FAAC every month for sm time now, I bliv about #7billion each month; a sum they also paid in dat last FAAC meeting 3 days ago.

My position on this issue is quite simple. If Sanusi was methodical enough to mention the specific levy of N22 billion which had not been remitted, in his letter to Presido -

“Finally, your Excellency, we would like to report that NNPC has failed to keep up with payments of its levies under Nigerian Export Supervision Scheme (NESS), in line with this law, and currently owes the Federal Government N22 billion.

We must understand that he was addressing another specific concern when he employed "diverted away" as an operative phrase -

“Your Excellency, it is my respectful view that a place to begin is to insist on NNPC to account fully for all proceeds that were diverted away from its accounts with the CBN and the Federation Account. There are also other lines of inquiry which your Excellency may wish to authorise and pursue.

Source

If you read between the lines here, you would see that the NNPC's initial response, a few days ago, was clearly designed to obfuscate minds.

Who sanctioned the diversion of these funds? How much interest was accrued?

The issue of NNPC owing CBN at any point in time is not the issue under contention.

The purported letter to the President is specifically pointing to a certain period under review between January 2012 to June 2013.

From available information provided so far by NNPC Directors, they stated their compliance and the amount the agency remitted during the same period under review as quoted in Sanusi's letter.

eGuerrilla: I want to see how those commentators who have been quick on the trigger to pour out as much bile and opprobrium as their corrupt minds would allow, respond to the article copied in below. You know yourselves



Source: http://www.newsexpressngr.com/

eGuerrilla:

My position on this issue is quite simple. If Sanusi was methodical enough to mention the specific levy of N22 billion which had not been remitted, in his letter to Presido -



We must understand that he was addressing another specific concern when he employed "diverted away" as an operative phrase -


Source

If you read between the lines here, you would see that the NNPC's initial response, a few days ago, was clearly designed to obfuscate minds.

Who sanctioned the diversion of these funds? Who much interest was accrued?

I am surprised the DPR and FIRS have not officially and/or publicly come out to state the role(s) they played, if we are to believe the NNPC that those two agencies are responsible for the remittance of the $49billion. It would have doused the tension and allayed all fears if they had proven that they remitted the monies into the Federation account.

The $49billion if at all it is not missing, should reflect in the DPR's royalty account managed by CBN and the FIRS account also managed by CBN. The fact that the CBN is yet to trace the $49billion in those two accounts means the money is still missing in CBN's books.

I do not expect the CBN to join the NNPC in trading blames openly. The political atmosphere is already tense, and if the CBN should engage the NNPC in war of words, it would lead to opening of new cans of worms and will scandalize the government.