By SINL Reporter
The Chairman Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC, Lagos West) has directed the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris to investigate payment of over $18billion as dividend to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) between 2004 and 2020.
Adeola gave the directive following disclosures from NLNG officials during the 5-Day Senate Committees on Finance and National Planning consideration of the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper.
Indeed, the Accountant General was mandated to investigate among other things if the amount was actually remitted to NNPC, how much was actually remitted to the Federation Account.
The Accountant General was also tasked to find out if there was any deduction by NNPC, how much was deducted and who authorized the deductions and the exchange rates applied for the amount that was remitted over the years under consideration.
General Manager (External Relations and Sustainable Development) of NLNG, Mrs. Eyono Fatai –William, presented a financial summary of the company from 1999-2019.
She indicated that it had paid a dividend of over $18billion to Nigeria from 2004-2019, stressing that NLNG was committed to a culture of transparency and integrity.
She also revealed that the NLNG also remmited $9bn dollars in Tax to the Federal Government from 2011 to date, while 15 billion dollars had also been remmited for field gas to the NNPC since inception of the company.
When Senator Adeola inquired from the Accountant General of the Federation if he could confirm the payment of the dividends to the Federation Account, he said it is difficult to determine.
Idris explained that the dividend is usually paid to NNPC who are the representative of Nigeria in the company.
The Chairman therefore directed the Accountant General to investigate the payment and report back to the Senate in two weeks.
