By News Maker Media in Abuja
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has rejected the volume of petroleum importation records submitted by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, for 2022 and 2023.
The committee said the records were unacceptable due to wide disparities between NMDPRA’s figures and those presented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL.
It has therefore resolved to summon the heads of NMDPRA, NNPCL and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, to reconcile the figures or expose suspected fraud.
The discrepancies came to light when the management of NMDPRA appeared before the committee to respond to queries raised in the NEITI Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report for 2021 to 2023.
The Authority Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Mallam Rabiu Abdullahi Umar, who was represented by Deputy Director, Uzoamaka Ugwu-Ojobe, insisted that NMDPRA’s records were credible.
Defending the figures, she said, “We stand by 3.29 billion litres of PMS as volume imported in 2022 and 6.02 billion litres as volume imported in 2023 against 6.27 billion litres recorded by NNPCL in 2022 and 3.88 billion litres in 2023.”
She described the differences as “slight disparities” that are being looked into for possible reconciliation.
Her submission, however, irked members of the committee who described the explanation as untenable.
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) said disparities of over 50 per cent are not slight but wide, disturbing and suspicious.
Senator Dayo Faduyile (Ondo South) also expressed concern, saying the conflicting records leave room to think that something is amiss in the fuel importation regime.
Outrightly rejecting the defence, Senator Anietan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North-East) called for thorough investigation, saying Nigerians must not be allowed to be shortchanged yearly, while Chairman of the Committee, Senator Hassan Dankwambo (Gombe North), ruled that the three agencies must appear for a tripartite meeting.
