Okey Ndiribe & Emman Ovuakporie
21 November 2012, 2012, Sweetcrude, Abuja – NIGERIA’s House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has resolved to summon the management of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to appear before it for seven consecutive days to explain the shortfall of N7 billion in government revenue from the corporation in 2006.
The Committee, chaired by Solomon Adeola, said it would equally be querying other agencies, including the Directorate of Petroleum Resources, DPR; Petroleum Pipelines Marketing Company, the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, and the Ministry of Petroleum over the issue.
Adeola also disclosed that it would be instituting a comprehensive probe into the operation of the Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, which, according to him, has not remitted any revenue into government coffers after operating in the country for about seven years.
The lawmaker said the budget proposal submitted by the government to the National Assembly did not reflect revenue expected from gas, even as he added that it would be unacceptable to the House for the Presidency to lump it up as revenue coming from other sources.
He also revealed that the committee was working hard to ensure that the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation got its budget as a first line charge from the Federation Accounts for it to be actually independent and discharge its responsibilities judiciously.
On the possibility of laying the 2003-2006 audit report to the House, Adeola said: “We will do that as the MDAs have a lot to return to the federation account.”
Speaking on the resolution of his Alimosho Federal Constituency in the ongoing Constitution Amendment process, Adeola said his peoples, who are more than three million people, are demanding for the creation of two additional local governments for the area.
He also disclosed that his constituents kicked against the creation of more states, just as they rejected constitutional roles for traditional rulers.
