The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has queried the Nigeria National Petro-leum Corporation (NNPC) over non-remittance of certain revenues that were expected to accrue from the sale of Forcados Condensate to the Federation Account through latter�s channel.
A report of the FAAC Post Mortem Sub-Committee dated August 21, 2007, obtained by THISDAY, revealed that NNPC was requested to account for some missing invoices and their corresponding volume/value that was sold on Forcados Condensate.
Forcados Condensates are elements of crude oil, distillated from associated gas from crude oil found in the Niger Delta region.
Similarly, FAAC stated in the report that its members observed with concern the NNPC, Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Independent marketers were requesting for payment in respect of subsidy.
As a result, FAAC has summoned PPPRA to its next meeting for the purpose of making clarification on the matter.
According to the report, �the meeting deliberated on discrepancies in the crude oil figure lifted by the NNPC and the Department for Petroleum Resources (DPR) and a final report is being expected.
�NNPC was requested to account for some missing invoices and their corresponding volume and value that were sold on Forcados condensate.
�Members observed with concern the situation where the NNPC, PPPRA and independent marketers were all requesting for payment in respect of subsidy, and agreed that PPPRA should attend its next meeting for the purposes of making clarification on the matter.�
The matter relating to NNPC�s non-remittance of accruing revenue from the sale of crude oil has been long-drawn, especially with FAAC, which is made up of Minister of State for Finance, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Finance Comm-issioners from all the states and their Accountants-General, Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) as well as representatives of revenue generating agencies such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
Only recently, the RMAFC alleged that NNPC withholds about N20 billion every month from the federation account as subsidy. In fact, the commission had said NNPC withheld the sum of N555 billion from November 2004 to April 2007. The Commission had also accused PPPRA, a subsidiary of NNPC of illegally deducting over N23 billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) between January and May 2007 as subsidy.
At the FAAC meeting held on Tuesday, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Ibrahim Dankwambo, had told newsmen that a total of N18.8 billion was paid to oil marketers between January 2006 and March 2007 as subsidy due to the high landing cost of fuel imported into the country.
According to him, �about N17.1 billion was paid to the marketers between January and December 2006 and N1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2007.�
Also discussed at the meeting of the Post-Mortem Sub-committee were �issues relating to signature bonus on which members sought explanations for and were properly educated on the modus operandi on the subject of signature bonus.
In addition, representative of the Budget Office was invited to brief members on how targets are set to the revenue generating agencies. Further discussions on that, is expected to continue at the September meeting of the sub-committee.
The meeting was held on August 2, 2007 with only three commissioners of finance and five accountants-general in attendance.
Aug232007