Sanusi Lamido Accuses NNPCL of Not Remitting Crude Export Dollars into the Government Coffer
A former Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, has raised questions over the whereabouts of the dollar proceeds from the crude oil export following the end of the petrol subsidy regime.
He accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of failing to remit the dollars from crude oil exports into the federal government’s coffers.
Sanusi, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), raised the question at the bank directors’ summit, organized by the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria in Abuja.
He also opposed the president occupying the post of petroleum minister, saying the practice has discouraged transparency in the oil sector.
According to Sanusi, the president, as petrol minister, made it difficult to ask the petroleum minister and the NNPCL critical questions about the sector.
He said, “The exchange rate needs to be stabilized and we have to address the fundamental question, why is there no money coming in? Why is the NNPCL not able to bring in dollars?
Am sorry this is the question that cost me my job and I will continue asking this question until NNPCL fixes it up or until I die. Where are the dollars? We need to shine a light on the NNPCL.
The finance minister cannot tell you because he doesn’t have a monitoring system that reports to him. The finance minister can’t tell you how many barrels of petrol we produce and export.
Read Also:
Sanusi Blames the Depreciation of Naira on CBN’s Loan to the Buhari Administration
It is only the NNPCL that can give those figures. The finance ministry needs to know how much oil we produce daily, how much we sell, and where the money is going.
“We are no longer paying subsidies so where are the dollars? It was under recovery during the subsidy era and that has been stopped, so where is the money? This was the issue I raised for which I was suspended, well you can suspend me again. The NNPCL is the most opaque oil company in the world.
When I was in the central bank for 15 years, they had not been audited.
We have to follow the money from production to export to return, where is the money going? We paid N11tn in subsidy and there is no accountability up till now. The National Assembly called the NNPCL to bring the documents, but they refused.
Meanwhile, the NNPC said it was focused at the moment on delivering the task that had been set for the national oil company, stressing that everyone was free to air their opinion.
NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, told one of our correspondents that there would be no need for an official response to the claims made by the ex-CBN boss.
He explained that constant responses could hinder the enormous task before the oil company, adding that NNPC would rather concentrate on handling the work that it was established to deliver.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Constant responses to every individual can hinder our work. Our focus remains on delivering energy security, managing ongoing projects, and implementing reforms,” Soneye stated.
