$20 missing funds: NPDC says it only received funds for capital, operational expenditure from the NNPC

The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) on Thursday in Abuja said it only received funds to cover its capital and operational expenditure from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Mr Victor Briggs, the Managing Director of NPDC, disclosed this at the Senate Committee on Finance hearing on the alleged missing 20 billion dollars oil revenue.

Briggs was reacting to allegations by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that six billion dollars out of the missing funds was paid to the company.

He, however, did not disclose the amount that the NPDC received from the NNPC for capital and operational expenditure.

“NPDC will like to confirm that it received funds from NNPC to cover its capital and operating expenditures as approved by NNPC for the NNPC funded assets during the period under review.

“We did not in NPDC receive 6 billion dollars.’’

According to him, royalties and taxes are paid from the account managed by the NNPC.

He assured the committee that before Feb. 28, the company would provide the committee with the exact amount paid by the NNPC for its capital and operational expenditures.

Responding, the NNPC Group Managing Director, Mr Andrew Yakubu, said the corporation would align with the legal opinion and the instrument guiding NNPC relationship with its subsidiaries.

“We will come out clearly with true submission by Feb. 28, which will clearly show how we operate and how the proceeds are managed by the corporation and NPDC,’’ he said.

The Chairman of the Committee, Ahmed Makarafi, urged the NPDC to put in writing what it received from the NNPC as budget for funding its operational cost within the period under review.

“The NNPC submission indicates that six billion dollars was lifted on your behalf, so it was money that should come to you.

“We want to know how much you received during the period under consideration and that period was January 2012 to July 2013.

“At the same time, we have asked the NNPC to provide us how much of that money belonged to the federation account, if remitted and evidence that it was so remitted.

“If we have that, we will know how to balance the both,’’ he said. (NAN)