NNPC Has Not Remitted Any Money Yet - FG

Four Months after former President Goodluch Jonathan directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to refund $1.48bn (N291.56bn) into the Federation Account, the corporation has yet to do so.

An international audit firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, was last year hired to carry out a forensic audit of the corporation following an allegation by the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, that $49bn was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC.

Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano, had written a letter to Jonathan that the amount was not remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC.

But following the controversy, which the letter generated, a committee was set up to reconcile the account.

Sanusi later recanted and said the unremitted fund was $12bn. He again changed the figure to $20bn.

PwC had stated in its report that while the total gross revenues generated from crude oil lifting was $69.34bn between January 2012 and July 2013 and not $67bn as earlier stated by the Senate Reconciliation Committee, what was remitted to the Federation Account was $50.81bn and not $47bn.

Within the $69.34bn, the audit report revealed that $28.22bn was the value of the domestic crude oil allocated to the NNPC, adding that the total amount spent on subsidy for Premium Motor Spirit amounted to $5.32bn.

But speaking on Tuesday shortly after this month’s Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anastacia Nwaobia, said no amount had been refunded as directed by Jonathan.

She said, “On refund from the NNPC, that was not discussed but you can see that from the breakdown, we have a refund of what we have been expecting from the NNPC to the Federal Government. We had a refund of about N6.33bn.

“The refund that you are asking about, maybe it is a fallout of the forensic audit; that has not been done. The forensic audit is still being considered and I am sure that when a decision is taken, it will be communicated and you will have that information.”

Speaking on the amount shared at the meeting, Nwaobia said the sum of N418.4bn was shared among the federal, states and local governments as revenue for the month of May.

She said that the shared amount comprised the month’s statutory revenue of N324bn and N6.3bn refunded by NNPC, being the corporation’s indebtedness to the federation before the release of the forensic audit report.

The permanent secretary said, “The gross revenue of N324.96bn received for the month was higher than the N282.06bn received in the previous month by N41.99bn. The distributable statutory revenue for the month is N324.06bn. The sum of N6.33bn was refunded by the NNPC to the Federal Government.

“Also, there was an exchange gain of N31.24bn, which is proposed for distribution. The total revenue distributable for the current month, including VAT, is N418.4bn.”

Giving the breakdown of the revenue shared among the three tiers of government, Nwaobia said after deducting the sum of N6.82bn as cost of collection, the Federal Government received N151.8bn, representing 52.68 per cent; states, N76.9bn, or 26.72 per cent of the total; while the local governments received N59.3bn, or 20.60 per cent of the amount distributed.

She announced that N29bn, representing 13 per cent derivation revenue, was also shared among the oil producing states.

President parries question on ministerial list

President Muhammadu Buhari may shock state governors and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress by the time he releases the list of his ministerial nominees, investigation has revealed.

THE PUNCH learnt on Tuesday that indication that Buhari was keeping matters relating to the appointment close to his chest emerged during a meeting he held with state governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

A governor who pleaded anonymity told our correspondent that one of his colleagues raised the issue at the meeting.

He said the governor had asked the President when the names of ministerial nominees would be sent to the Senate for screening.

He said Buhari however refused to answer the question posed by the governor.

This, he explained, was an indication that the President did not want to talk on the matter.

“During the meeting today, a governor asked the President what is delaying the list of his ministerial list.

“The President did not answer that question. That, to me, means that he is keeping details to his chest,” the source said.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina; and his Senior Special Assistant and Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, could not be reached for comment as of the time of filing this report.

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/president-parries-question-on-ministerial-list/

Buhari-US’ll assist us to recover stolen funds

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said his administration had received firm assurances of cooperation from the United States and other countries in his quest to recover and repatriate funds stolen from Nigeria.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke while granting audience to members of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Adesina quoted Buhari as saying that it was now up to Nigeria to provide the international community with the facts and figures needed to drive the recovery effort.

He said he would be busy, in the next three months, getting the facts that would help in recovering the stolen funds.

“In the next three months, our administration will be busy getting those facts and the figures to help us recover our stolen funds in foreign countries,” Adesina quoted the President as saying.

Citing the report submitted by the Ahmed Joda-led transition committee, President Buhari said that several revenue-generating institutions in the country had been compromised.

On insecurity, the President was also quoted as telling the traditional rulers that they would play a key role in stemming terrorism and insurgency in the country.

This, he said, they would do by assisting the government with cost-effective intelligence gathering.

Buhari also assured the traditional rulers that his administration was working hard to end insecurity and terrorism in the country in the shortest possible time with the cooperation of neighbouring countries and the international community.

Acknowledging that Nigerians expected a lot from his administration, the President appealed for patience and understanding while his government works diligently to speedily overcome the huge national challenges it inherited.

The Sultan had earlier presented the Northern Traditional Rulers’ recommendations to the President on issues related to national development.

He told the President that as custodians of tradition and stakeholders in the Nigerian project, the traditional rulers had a responsibility to always advise political leaders on the “path of truth and justice.”

“We have always advised our leaders, but their acceptance of our advice is their own prerogative,” the Sultan said.

The traditional rulers assured the President of their unflinching support for his administration’s efforts to fulfil its promises to Nigerians.

The traditional rulers later joined the President in the traditional breaking of fast.

They were also joined by some state governors.

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/usll-assist-us-to-recover-stolen-funds-buhari/

Fresh crisis brews in APC

The sharing of principal offices in the Senate seems to be creating a fresh crisis in the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The principal offices are the Senate Leader; the Deputy Senate Leader; the Chief Whip and the Deputy Chief Whip.

While the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, is believed to have recommended to the APC National Working Committee that the positions be allocated to the zones, some leaders of the party, especially those from the South-West, want them filled by the party’s hierarchy.

A senator made this known to one of our correspondents in Abuja on Thursday just as the APC NWC meeting   on Thursday   failed to agree on the modalities for brokering peace among aggrieved members of the party.

The senator warned that if the issue was not quickly resolved, the Senate and the APC might “face another round of crisis bigger than that that resulted from Saraki’s emergence as Senate president.”

He added, “The Senate President, had after wide consultations, suggested how the officers to occupy these posts could be appointed. He suggested the allocation of the four principal offices to some of the geopolitical zones.

“But some leaders, who are still angry with his (Saraki) emergence, turned down his suggestion. Some of the influential leaders from the South-West are insisting that the party should fill the offices. This is in spite of the fact that the chairman of our party (John Odigie-Oyegun) and other members of the NWC are in support of allocating the principal offices to zones.

“The South-West leaders are even saying that allowing the party leadership to fill the offices, remained the only way to allow peace to reign in the Senate.”

A Senator from the North-Central , who is loyal to Saraki, confirmed the development on condition of anonymity .

He said that it was true that some APC leaders were insisting that the party should nominate the senators who would occupy the four principal offices .

He said, “By the Senate tradition, the party in majority normally sends the offices to the zones where the Senate caucuses would meet and choose among themselves in the zone, who occupies the offices.

“Some other leaders of the party are claiming that asking the party to produce the principal officers was a smart way   to impose the Senate Leader, the Deputy Senate Leader, the Chief Whip and the Deputy Chief Whip on the Senate.”

The senator claimed that a “very influential “ leader of the party from the South-West had allegedly written Odigie- Oyegun that the leaders would fill the positions. “

He said, “Some of us were just called by some members of the NWC intimating us of details of a letter forwarded to the body that it should just fill the remaining four leadership positions in the Senate.

“In fact, the letter from the South-West leader is that the party must take charge and name its preferred candidates for the four offices.”

It was further learnt that some senators had already met with some NWC members asking them to ignore the letter.

They   were said to have insisted that the tradition remained that the zonal caucuses which did not produce the Senate President and his deputy should meet and nominate among themselves.

They added that it was when there were two or more nominations that,   an election could hold and that whoever scored the highest votes   would be the candidate.

Efforts to get the spokesperson for the pro – Saraki group, Dino Melaye, failed because his mobile phone was switched off.

Spokesperson for the Senate Unity Forum, a group of senators loyal to   Lawan, Kabir Marafa, argued that the choice of other principal officers who are not elected on the floor of the Senate, remained the sole business of the party leadership.

He said, “How can the executive of the party at the zonal levels determine who will be made the Senate Leader, the Deputy Senate Leader, the Chief Whip   and the Deputy Chief Whip?

“It is the party executive that would determine all these. So the party would write the Senate President. That is the tradition. It cannot be done at the zonal level, it is absurd. There should be due process in whatever things   we do.”

But when contacted , the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Lai Mohammed simply said,   “No comment.”

NWC meeting deadlocked

Meanwhile, the leaders of the party will meet again on Friday   following their failure to reach an agreement on how to end the crisis that arose due to the National Assembly leadership elections .

The meeting, which was held behind closed doors at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja   started at about 5.20pm. It   lasted for a little over an hour.

Details of the meeting were not made public as of   8pm on Thursday when this story was filed.     When approached for comments ,   Odigie-Oyegun,   said, “We will meet again tomorrow to continue.”

It was however learnt that the party leaders had been unable to get supporters of the Senate President and the APC’s preferred candidate for the Senate Presidency , Ahmed Lawan, to meet face-to-face.

One of our correspondents, who visited the APC secretariat observed that the posters and banners of a former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, had disappeared from the secretariat.

His banners were hitherto pasted   side by side those of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

Most of the banners were put up by individuals and groups   supporting the APC.

It is not clear what led to the disappearance of the posters and banners.

PDP Will Regain Power in 2019 - Mimiko

The newly-elected Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum, Ondo’s Olusegun Mimiko, on Thursday said that the opposition party would regain power at the centre come 2019.

Mimiko said the PDP had in fact commenced the process of taking back power from the All Progressives Congress during the next general elections.

He said this at the Akure airport during a mini-reception organised for him on his return from Abuja, where he was voted as the new PDP governors’ chairman on Wednesday.

Mimiko said the governors were determined to give the PDP a new face as the opposition party, pledging that the party’s engagement of the ruling APC would be robust and offer alternative policy platform and programmes for the country.

He said the PDP governors had resolved to collectively work assiduously and excel in governance with a view to re-branding the party and selling it to all Nigerians.

He said, “We must sustain enthusiasm in our party; and as governors who have pivotal roles to play in re-branding our party, we must show in governance term the difference between us and the APC and these are the challenges ahead of us.

“As opposition party, our engagement will be robust; we must offer alternative policy platform and programme when we criticise one. We must show Nigerians that we are a different party. We will not be abusive in opposing the government and we will praise where it is worthy of praise and criticise in a very robust manner”

He said that the PDP in Ondo State had reached an appreciable level of repositioning and that the party was “overwhelmingly” in charge in the state.

The Speaker of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Jumoke Akindele, noted at the reception that the emergence of Mimiko as the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum was well deserved.

Wike - I Met An Empty Treasury

THE Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has said that contrary to the claims by the immediate past administration that it left N7bn in the state coffers, he met an empty treasury.

Wike explained that the treasury where the monthly Federal Allocation accruing to the state was always kept had remained in debit as at May 29 when he (governor) took over the reins of governance in the state.

The governor made this remark on Thursday at the Government House in Port Harcourt during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the state government and officials of Julius Berger and a Chinese Construction firm, CCECC, for the rehabilitation of 33 kilometres of township roads in the state capital.

He stated that from the brief he received from the state Accountant General after his inauguration, only one revenue account with Sterling Bank had some funds left by the immediate past administration.

Wike said, “I want to say on good authority that we did not meet any N7bn, as being speculated. The state’s FAAC account as at May 29 (2015) was in debit. That was the briefing I received from the Accountant-General.”

Signing the MoU with the two construction giants, Wike explained that the step was to realise his administration zero potholes programme launched on May 29, 2015.

According to the governor, while Julius Berger is to handle the rehabilitation of 11 kilometres of township roads alongside street lights and traffic lights, the CCECC will handle 20 kilometres of township roads in Port Harcourt.

He explained that the state government had resolved to work with the construction giants to rebuild road infrastructure in the state capital. He added that the revival of facilities in the state capital was beyond political consideration.

Wike noted that the funds for the ‘Operation Zero Potholes’ had been set aside, hence the signing of the MoU to ensure that the companies concluded work in 120 days.

He, however, promised to personally monitor the execution of the projects by the construction giants.

Wike explained that his administration had resolved to take the N10bn loan with specific focus on key projects to be implemented, noting that the request to the state House of Assembly was accompanied by all the projects to be executed.

NNPC - WE WILL KICK START PORT HARCOURT REFINERY BY JULY

The Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Joseph Dawha, on Thursday said the Port Harcourt Refinery might resume operation by July.

Dawha said this while addressing newsmen after a tour of some filling stations in Abuja with some top management staff of the corporation.

``When the refinery comes up stream in late June or early July we expect that it will run at least 80 per cent installed capacity.

``It will give us a contribution of about five million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) on a daily basis.”

Dawha said the ongoing Turn Around Maintenance(TAM) of the refineries was a conscious effort to ensure that they were all running.

``If the refineries were not in depth or in good state to process crude for maximum gain there was no need of sending crude to such refineries for processing.

``What we do is to fix them so that we can get the real value for products.

``We are satisfied with the level of work carried out so far at the Port Harcourt Refinery so that if we start processing crude now we will get value for the refined products.

``So there will not be distraction as it will be, if refineries were operating properly.”

The GMD also decried the spate of vandalism of the pipeline in the country, stressing that the NNPC was working hard to put in place mechanism to minimise the menace.

He described the situation as ``a very serious matter”, noting that NNPC could not use the pipeline network supply because of vandalism.

``If you send products through the vandalised pipeline then you lose the product.

``We cannot live it that way; we have to repair them but as you do that, it is vandalised again. It is a very serious matter.

``We are left with the option of trucking which involves a lot of logistics to succeed.”

The Managing Director of the Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Prince Haruna Momoh, condemned the recent vandalised system 2B pipeline of the NNPC in Lagos.

According to him, the system 2B pipeline in Ije Ododo in Lagos is the most vandalised structure.

He said that already the situation had been controlled and repair of the pipeline would soon begin.

``As at today, the NNPC imports 50 per cent of the petroleum products into the country as part of the 40 million litres daily consumption by Nigerians.

``The corporation will continue to intensify its efforts to wet the country with products from its coastal depots to inland depots.”

He said the NNPC was ready to work with all the relevant stakeholders in the downstream sector of the Oil and Gas Industry to end the lingering fuel scarcity. (NAN)