By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
The Senate has intensified its investigation into alleged revenue leakages in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, probing unresolved questions surrounding a $3 billion pre-export financing loan and $722.6 million in dividends and interest paid by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG).
The issues were raised on Thursday when the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Raymond Omachi, appeared before the Senate Public Accounts Committee chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, to respond to queries contained in the 2021–2023 Oil and Gas Sector Audit Report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The audit report had raised concerns over the recovery of the $3 billion pre-export financing facility obtained in 2012 for subsidy payments, as well as the handling of the $722.6 million NLNG dividends and interest paid to NNPC in 2021.
Omachi told the committee that the Finance Ministry could not directly answer several of the queries because the transactions were handled by agencies, particularly the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
He said the affected agencies had not provided the ministry with the financial records required to reconcile the disputed transactions.
“We don’t have direct involvement in all the issues raised, and the required provision of financial records from the affected agencies, particularly NNPCL, NUPRC and others, is not there,” Omachi said.
The permanent secretary disclosed that the ministry had engaged Arthur Andersen LLP to conduct a forensic audit of the transactions and reconcile the disputed figures.
The NEITI report had questioned how the $3 billion loan was being recovered from monthly Federation revenue proceeds under the Pre-Export Financing and Project Eagle agreements.
It also queried the $722.6 million paid by NLNG to NNPC in 2021 as dividends and interest belonging to the Federation, stating that the funds were neither remitted to the Federation nor properly accounted for.
The audit further raised questions about the non-operation of Nigeria’s refineries in 2021, despite about N200 billion having been spent on their rehabilitation.
Another issue flagged was $221.283 million in overhead costs incurred by the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) in 2021.
Omachi’s explanation, however, failed to resolve the committee’s concerns over the prolonged delay in reconciling the figures.
He subsequently urged the lawmakers to compel the affected agencies to appear before the committee and provide the necessary records.
“We are having challenges bringing them to the table so that we can resolve these issues,” he said.
*NNPCL, NUPRC summoned over unresolved NEITI audit findings
Following the ministry’s explanation, the committee directed that the NNPCL, NUPRC, and other relevant agencies be convened in a joint session with the Finance Ministry to address the outstanding queries.
Dankwambo directed Omachi to arrange the meeting and ensure that all agencies whose records were required for the reconciliation participated.
“I would like you to review the internal report and arrange a meeting involving the Ministry of Finance, the NUPRC, NNPC and any other agency whose participation is necessary to resolve the issues we have raised,” Dankwambo said.
The committee chairman stressed that the disputed transactions could not be treated as an internal government matter, given the international scrutiny surrounding Nigeria’s extractive industry.
“The international community is following these issues. They are not matters confined to Nigeria; they are in the public domain and are being monitored by people across the world,” he said.
Dankwambo urged the affected agencies to produce all relevant documents and ensure that the outstanding figures were properly reconciled.
He said resolving the discrepancies was necessary to protect the country’s financial interests and strengthen transparency in the management of oil revenues.
The committee is expected to continue its examination of the NEITI audit findings as it seeks to establish what happened to the questioned funds and determine the agencies responsible for the outstanding financial discrepancies.
