An energy expert, managing partner of BBH Consulting, and convener of the Public Interest Advocacy Network (PIAN), Barrister Ameh Madaki said that a comprehensive audit of NNPCL is long overdue.
According to him, the company had continued to exist in opaqueness for too long without adequate scrutiny.
“The probe required in NNPCL under Mele Kyari goes far beyond the N500 billion referred to in the World Bank report under reference.
“The opaque nature of the operations of the NNPCL over the years and the selective amnesia of the Nigerian public ensure that massive fraud is covered up by the organisation.
“For instance, what happened to the $3.3 billion borrowed by NNPCL to shore up the value of the naira on crude oil futures sales contracts?
“What was done with the money when the currency went into a disgraceful free fall? And this is not the first time NNPCL is not remitting funds to the federation account!
“Throughout the second term of President Buhari, NNPCL did not remit a dime to the Federation account because they said they had become a limited liability company like NLNG and would only remit profits after expenses and tax to the Federation account after the audit.
“This kept the states and local governments in dire straits financially under that government, and nothing happened.
“So why would anyone cry wolf over one month’s remittance to the Federation account? NNPCL has declared losses for several years under one frivolous guise or the other, but nobody has asked for a probe.
“Bayo Ojulari, the new GCEO of NNPCL, as a square peg in a square hole, must do the needful and purge the organisation of its opaqueness so that Nigerians can, for the first time, reap the benefits of having a National Oil and Gas Company.”
DAILY POST reports that the missing N500 billion in unremitted funds had heightened calls for Kyari’s probe.
Recall that Tinubu’s administration on April 2 sacked Kyari and other NNPCL board members over mounting concerns about their performance.
Kyari announced the commencement of petroleum products production at Port Harcourt and Warri refineries last year, in November and December, respectively.
However, the petrol production capacity of the resuscitated refineries remained under contention before the exit of Kyari.
The development had fueled mixed reactions over calls for his probe by several groups and civil societies in the last two months.
