NEC Sets Up Committee To Investigate NNPC Accounts

The National Economic Council (NEC) has set up a committee to investigate a shortfall of N3.5 trillion in remitting by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into the Federation Account since 2012.

This is coming after a briefing by a Director of Funds in the Office of the Accountant General on the status and management of the Federation Account, which indicted NNPC of remitting only N4.3 trillion out of its earnings, estimated at N8.1 trillion within the same period

Briefing State House correspondents after NEC meeting chaired by Vice Presi‎dent Yemi Osinbajo, Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who briefed alongside his counterparts from Kaduna, Zamfara and Akwa Ibom States, explained that the committee is to look into the missing N3.5 trillion and report back to the council at its next meeting on the whereabouts of the fund.

Members of the committee, who are to report back to the council on the 23rd of July when the council is to reconvene, are governors of Kaduna, Nasir Elrufai, Edo, Adams Oshiomhole, Akwa Ibom, Emmanuel Udom and Gombe’s Ibrahim Dankwabo

Oshiomhole added that the council will also look at the Excess Crude Account and report back on the rationale to which it would continue operation or done away with at the next sitting of the council in July.

Another issue that would also be looked into according to the Edo State governor is the differences between what former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, declared as the balance in the Excess Crude Account and what this administration met in the account.

Oshiomhole stated that while Okonjo-Iweala, had claimed that the past administration left 4.1 billion dollars in the account, only 2.0 billion US dollars was found in it by the owners of the account; the three tiers of the government.

He stressed that there was the need to look into the account to see who authorised withdrawals from the account and what had necessitated such withdrawals.