Senate begins probe of NNPC joint venture cash calls - Nigeria

NNPC

The Joint Senate Committees on Gas Resources and Petroleum Upstream yesterday said it would begin investigation into the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) joint venture cash calls from 2011 to 2015.

The investigation is coming on the heels of the debate and adoption of a motion by the Senate on April 13, 2106 on the urgent need for effective implementation of the Joint Venture Cash Calls obligations by NNPC in accordance with various Appropriation Acts of the National Assembly.

A statement signed by the Media Adviser to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas Resources, Mr. Victor Effik said the joint committee would comprise committees on Gas Resources, Petroleum Upstream, Finance and Appropriations and it had requested organisations and the general public to submit written memoranda before the end of this month.

Some of the organisations expected to submit memoranda at the investigative hearing include among others the Nigerian Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Federal Ministry of Finance and the Petroleum Club. Others include Forum of State Commissioners of Finance, Oil and Gas Industry Stakeholders and interested parties.

The committee, headed by the Senate committee on Gas Resources, Senator Bassey Albert Akpan (PDP, Akwa Ibom, North East) said: “The investigations will be guided by Sections 88 and 89 of the country’s constitution as well as provisions of the various Appropriation Acts passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by the president.”

According to him, the issue of joint venture cash call is as a result of appropriation acts passed by the National Assembly, noting that any bill passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by the president becomes the law of the Federation.

“An infraction of such law is a serious issue, the framework and scope for the investigations into the cash call operations will be taken from the point of view of provisions of the annual budgets passed by the National Assembly,” he said.

He advised members of the committee to come up with recommendations that will lead to a better management of cash calls by NNPC.

Also speaking at the meeting, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Senator Tayo Alasoadura described the issue of cash call arrears as a “mystery that must be unraveled.”

Chairman, Appropriations Committee, Senator Danjuma Goje said this is the right time for government to get to the root of the matter knowing the turbulence in the oil market, while calling on other stakeholders to cooperate to solve this problem facing the country’s oil and gas sector.

The investigation into the cash call operations by NNPC is sequel to the failure of the corporation to meet its joint venture cash call obligations, put at over $7 billion.