NNPC Denies Allegations by House of Reps of Operating Secret Accounts

• The House of Reps Committee probing the Joint Venture operations of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) said it had uncovered a secret account by the firm
• According to the information provided by an official of the Accountant General’s Office, the funds are operated by NNPC and Accountant General’s office and kept with CBN
• The NPPC, however, denied the allegations and said all accounts used under the Joint Venture programme and kept with CBN and sent to federation accounts

The House Representatives have been probing the joint venture Businesses and Production Sharing Contracts of the NNPC in the last 32 years and said it found a secret account operated by the company in violation of due process.

According to a Guardian report, an official of the office of accountant General of the Federation, Chize Peters, disclosed this before the House’ Adhoc committee probing the issue.

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Funds are kept with CBN

Peters said the firm operates the accounts with the Accountant General’s oOffice. He said the funds are with the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the proceeds are paid into the federation account.

Peters promised to provide the necessary documentation.

But the NNPC has denied the allegations and said it does not directly, or through its upstream arm, the National Petroleum Investment Service (NAPIMS) operate secret accounts.

NNPC denies secret accounts

The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Garba Deen Muhammad, posted on its Twitter page that the company does not operate any secret account.

Muhammad said all the joint venture cash call accounts in US dollars and Naira are with the CBN in compliance with the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

The statement said the Joint Venture accounts were opened for individual Joint Venture operators to self-fund strategies, aiming to make them self-reliant.

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Nigeria witnessed excruciating petrol scarcity in March 2022 after importing bad petrol into the country.

Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it ran a shortage as it attempted to clean up the damage.

Source: Legit.ng