Former Group Executive Director (GED) Engineering and Technology, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Godswill Ihetu, has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to beam its searchlight on the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in its investigation of the alleged non-remittance of $49.8 billion to the Federation Account by NNPC.
Addressing the media in Lagos yesterday, Ihetu said both DPR and FIRS should as a matter of urgency furnish the CBN with remittance details of its own share of the controversial $49.8 billion.
CBN Governor, Mr. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had in a memo to President Goodluck Jonathan, dated September, 25 2013, explained that the NNPC has yet to account for, and repatriate to the Federation Account, an amount in excess of $49.804 billion or 76 per cent of the value of oil lifted in the same period.
The amount is said to represent 76 per cent of the total crude oil revenues from January 2012 to July 2013.
Ihetu while faulting the CBN, explained that revenue from crude oil liftings are in various categories, namely; Equity Crude; Petroleum Profit Tax, Royalty, Third Party Financing and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC.
Besides, he stated that revenues from each of these categories are statutorily collected by different agencies of the government, stating that NNPC collects only one of the aforementioned categories, namely Equity Crude.
“Petroleum Profit Tax is collected by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS; Royalty goes to the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Third Party financing goes for Research, Development, Program and Satellite fields Development, while NPDC goes to NPDC for upstream development.
The former GED argued that the 24 percent of total crude oil revenue receipts which the CBN governor is reported to have acknowledged that NNPC remitted represents the proceeds from the equity lifting which NNPC is directly responsible for while the alleged unremitted 76 percent was paid to the agencies that are statutorily empowered to receive them for onward remittance into the Federation Account.
He maintained that the letter by Sanusi was written in error and that such mistake could have been avoided if the CBN has cross checked with NNPC on the workings of oil and gas industry accounting principles.
Ihetu insisted that it was impossible for about $50 billion to disappear from oil proceeds, saying that such amount was capable of sinking the economy.
“It is practically impossible for $49.8 billion to go missing. How much is the Nigerian budget that such huge fund will disappear. If it is true, then the government would have collapsed, “he
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