House Summons Finance Minister, CBN Governor, over $21bn NLNG Funds
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed and Governor of the Central Bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele were Thursday summoned by the House of Representatives over allegation of illegal withdrawal of $21bn from the dividend accounts of the Nigeria Liquefied and Natural Gas Limited’s between 1999 and 2020.
Also summoned by the House over the matter was the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris.
The House summon followed revelation by the Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari during a presentation to the House.
Kyari who was represented on the occasion by the Chief Financial Officer, NNPC, Mr Umar Ajiya, had revealed that the deductions were approved by the Ministry of Finance, CBN and NNPC.
He also said the proceeds from the dividends account belonged to the federal government as its share of revenues from oil shared among the three tiers of the federation.
According to him, “All withdrawals were based on approved mandates of the relevant authorities. As far as NNPC is concerned, investments in NLNG were done on behalf of the Federal Government.
“I was the treasurer of NLNG, so I was aware of the Federal Government’s investment in the project. The same matter came up at the FEC and was referred to a committee headed by the Governor of Kaduna State (Nasir el-Rufai).
“But the fact is that, the Federal Government, through the NNPC, is the true owner of the investment. It is accrued to the Federal Government, not the Federation Account.
“There is no question of illegal withdrawal. Nobody can withdraw from the account, illegally; the CBN Governor can be invited to attest to that.”
Also summoned by the House over the matter was the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris.
The House summon followed revelation by the Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari during a presentation to the House.
Kyari who was represented on the occasion by the Chief Financial Officer, NNPC, Mr Umar Ajiya, had revealed that the deductions were approved by the Ministry of Finance, CBN and NNPC.
He also said the proceeds from the dividends account belonged to the federal government as its share of revenues from oil shared among the three tiers of the federation.
According to him, “All withdrawals were based on approved mandates of the relevant authorities. As far as NNPC is concerned, investments in NLNG were done on behalf of the Federal Government.
“I was the treasurer of NLNG, so I was aware of the Federal Government’s investment in the project. The same matter came up at the FEC and was referred to a committee headed by the Governor of Kaduna State (Nasir el-Rufai).
“But the fact is that, the Federal Government, through the NNPC, is the true owner of the investment. It is accrued to the Federal Government, not the Federation Account.
“There is no question of illegal withdrawal. Nobody can withdraw from the account, illegally; the CBN Governor can be invited to attest to that.”
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