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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the assets and liabilities of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company has said it will meet with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, over assets and liabilities of the corporation.
The chairman of the committee, Kingsley Uju Chima, who disclosed this, in Abuja, said the panel will also meet with the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, as well as the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipreye Sylva.
The panel was set up by the House to ascertain the the status of assets and liabilities of NNPC before they are handed over to NNPC Limited, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act ( PIA).
Ad-hoc Committee also resolved to request for detailed information on NNPC assets, interests, liabilities and up-to-date audited reports from the CEO of NNPC Limited.
According to Chima, the panel would also request for yearly audited reports of NNPC from Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) with a view to juxtaposing the NNPC audited reports with that of NEITI.
The lawmaker noted that despite the abundant natural endowment, the oil and gas industry has been plagued with corruption, mismanagement, crisis, environmental degradation, lack of refining capacity, among others.
“The decision of the House is in sync with the provisions of Sections 88and 89 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria [as amended).
“It is also hinged on the provisions of Section 54 of the recently signed Petroleum Industry Act. 2021.
“The legislative intervention is in alliance with section A 1.03 of the introduction part of the Legislative Agenda of the 9th Assembly (2019 – 2023) which states that, ‘the 9th House will seek to undertake reforms of critical sectors of the Nigerian society and economy with a view to improving the conditions that allow for investment, innovation and economic growth.
“Crude oil dominates Nigeria’s economy and account for about 86% of export earnings in our country. We have the largest oil and gas reserves in Sub-Sahara Africa with an estimated 37 billion barrels of oil and 188 trillion cubic feet of gas as of July 2021.
“It is depressing that, despite the abundant natural endowment, the oil and gas industry has been plagued with corruption, mismanagement, crisis, environmental degradation, lack of refining capacity, etc, ” Chima stated.
