The House has directed its committees on finance and petroleum resources (upstream) to conduct a comprehensive investigation on all NNPCL joint venture operations over alleged $60 billion revenue loss
The House of Representatives is set to probe the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for the alleged loss of $60 billion to inflated cash call payments on Joint Ventures (JVs) over the years.
This resolution followed a motion which highlighted the “need to investigate the loss of revenue of over $60,000,000,000 (sixty billion dollars only) due to inflated cash calls by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited Joint Venture agreements.”
The House disclosed at a plenary on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, that NNPCL lost over $60 billion due to bloated cash calls while operating Joint Ventures and related agreements with private oil companies in both oil and gas sectors on behalf of the federal government.
According to sponsor of the motion, Rep. Chika Okafor (APC, Imo), although the goal of the joint venture was to ensure sustainable revenue generation and economic development, the federal government only accrued a significant loss.
He also noted that the NNPCL Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), a unit under the NNPCL which is in charge of negotiating costs for the joint ventures, is primarily responsible for this.
He said the “NNPCL, as representatives of the federal government and federation, have about 60% holding while other partners have the remaining 40%. But due to bloated cash call costs, the NNPCL Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), a unit under the NNPCL in charge of negotiation of costs (both Capex and Opex) have caused huge losses in the neighbourhood of ($60,000,000,000) Sixty Billion Dollars over the years.
“Also, the activities of NNPCL Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) have resulted in huge revenue losses, fiscal deficits and an alarming debt profile,” he said.
Contributing to the motion, Rep. Isah Mohammed (APC, Zamfara), asked for a parallel investigation into the petroleum upstream and downstream sub-sectors.
This, according to him, is the only way to ensure an independent and thorough investigation of the alleged revenue loss.
“The NNPCL is an associate of the petroleum upstream sector, so I don’t think we can have an independent investigation into the upstream sector alone. We have to investigate the parallel sector, and this includes the downstream as well. So in this investigation, the downstream sector should also be included,” he added.
To this end, the House directed its committees on finance and petroleum resources (upstream) to conduct a comprehensive investigation on all the NNPCL Joint Venture operations.
The House asked that the committee’s investigation determine income and cash call costs due to the partners of the joint venture. It is also to look out for any illegal practice in the exercise.
