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Tag: Sanusi

  • NNPC retaining $10.8b bad for economy, says Sanusi

    NNPC retaining $10.8b bad for economy, says Sanusi

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had no right to retain $10.8 billion in income, which has contributed to a drop in savings that’s left the nation exposed to possible price shocks.

    “Given where the oil price is, we should have more in terms of reserves and savings, and because we don’t have that we are susceptible to shocks in the event of a decline in the oil price,” Sanusi told Bloomberg.

    A letter Sanusi wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan alleging the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. had withheld $49.8 billion in revenue sparked a public outcry when it was leaked to local newspapers last month. Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told reporters on Dec. 18 a reconciliation of the accounts showed unaccounted oil receipts stood at $10.8 billion.

    “No one has the right to retain money that should have gone to the federation account, so the fact that you’ve admitted retaining, or withholding $10 billion is itself bad enough,” said Sanusi. “This money was supposed to come in and if it came in, it would be part of our reserves and part of our excess crude savings.”

    Bernard Otti, the NNPC’s group executive director of finance and accounts, said on Jan. 10 the $10.8 billion was spent on pipeline repairs, fuel subsidies and reserve fuel.

    The lack of accounting in oil revenues has increased pressure on Jonathan as he faces defections from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and former President Olusegun Obasanjo criticized him for failing to tackle corruption. Lagos-based ThisDay newspaper reported on Jan. 9 that Jonathan told Sanusi to resign because he allegedly leaked his letter about the NNPC to Obasanjo.

    Sanusi, who doesn’t plan to renew his contract as governor when it expires in June, said there is no request from Jonathan to resign and “it’s back to business as usual.”

    Nigeria’s gross reserves have fallen 11 percent from last years peak of $48.85 billion in May. The excess crude account, which holds the savings the nation makes when the crude price is above the benchmark price estimated in the budget, dropped to under $5 billion from $9 billion at the beginning of the year, Okonjo-Iweala said in October.

    Lower savings are “not explained by a huge increase in government spending, because there wasn’t between 2013 and 2012,” Sanusi said. “So if spending didn’t increase much and if the oil price didn’t crash much and exports didn’t crash much, there’s a leakage.”

    A decline in oil production doesn’t explain the draw down in savings either because the crude price has exceeded the government’s budgeted price, Sanusi said. The spot price of Nigeria’s benchmark Qua Iboe crude has exceeded $100 a barrel for most of 2013, above the $79 budgeted price that year.

    “This whole process for me is one in which we need to force greater transparency over oil revenues,” Sanusi said. The NNPC has “now given explanations and they’re going to be called to show evidence.”

    Sanusi said his letter to Jonathan was never meant to be made public.

    “What was in fact an invitation to investigate somehow became read as the end of an investigation, the conclusion from an investigation and that wasn’t it,” he said. “This was an initial report given that, for me, raises sufficient concern to ask the president to have an investigation so we can know exactly where the money is.”

    Jonathan’s PDP, which has been in power since military rule ended in 1999, may face its sternest electoral challenge next year. That’s adding to risks that government spending may increase and inflation will accelerate from 8 percent in December. Expenditure climbed 17 percent before the 2011 presidential vote.

    The Finance Ministry will probably be able to keep spending under control in the run up to the vote, Sanusi said.

    “I have had a number of discussions with the finance minister and I get a sense she is very, very committed to keeping a tight leash on spending especially as we come towards elections,” he said. Jonathan hasn’t given any indication yet of who will be the next governor. Lagos-based Vetiva Capital Management Ltd. said in an Oct. 28 report that potential candidates include Sanusi’s four deputies and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, chief executive officer of Access Bank Plc. (ACCESS) Sanusi declined to comment on who he thought would be the best candidate.

    Drawing criticism from members of parliament opposed to his push for spending curbs on salaries, Sanusi fought off plans by lawmakers in 2012 to amend rules that would curtail the governor’s powers over the central bank.

    “I could have annoyed these guys a little bit less if I was a bit more politically sensitive and more tactful,” he said. “Some people have strong diplomatic skills and can make the same point without annoying people. My father was a career diplomat, so he took all diplomacy in my blood, I have nothing left.”

  • Who succeeds Sanusi?

    Who succeeds Sanusi?

    Unless there is a dramatic turn of events, the outgoing governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who is also a Kano born Prince, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is on his way out of office. His five-year tenure expires in June and he is expected to proceed on his terminal leave in another two months.

    As it is for now, Sanusi has indicated that he will not be seeking for a second term. Based on this, he has made the choice of a successor a little easier for President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Sanusi has been a maverick of sorts; he is famous for expressing his mind. His decision not to seek a second term came as a surprise to many when he made it public. This is in a country where the sit-tight syndrome among public office holders is common.

    Controversy and uncommon courage defined his five-year tenure. For instance, from day one, he made it clear that it was not going to be business as usual. And, indeed, it was not. In one fell swoop, he fired five top managements of banks for unwholesome banking practices. This was unheard of in the country until then. That singular act read a riot act to the banking sector that he was going to be strict and pursue real reforms. He similarly introduced the cashless policy, limiting daily withdrawal for corporate and personal accounts among many other reforms.

    Expectedly, the reforms elicited mixed reactions leading to a harvest of commendations as well as condemnations. Most assessment of his tenure is informed by his controversial public disposition. However, as a banker, his credentials recommended him for the job, he has earned international laurels.

    Indeed, he came well prepared for the job having acquired a degree in economics and another degree in Sharia and Islamic Studies. He made history as the first CEO of First Bank from the northern part of the country in bank’s over a century existence.

    Now, as he departs, whoever would succeed him must be well grounded in the banking industry and culture. Before Sanusi, Prof Charles Soludo, also another economist, had brought changes that helped in shaping the subsequent reforms of his successor. For instance, it was during his tenure that the consolidation of the banking sector was achieved. Soludo raised the capital base of banks to N25billion.This compelled many banks to either fuse or merged with others to form one strong entity that can compete globally.

    Home grown expertise

    It is instructive to note that both Sanusi and Soludo are ‘home grown’ economists.None of them acquired a foreign degree. Soludo in particular acquired subsequent qualifications from his Alma Mata, the University Nigeria, Nsukka. Before Soludo was appointed governor, he was presidential adviser on economic matters; a job that probably prepared him for the headship of the apex bank.

    What Soludo lacked in real commercial banking experience was probably made up by his deep theoretical understanding of the complexities of managing an economy like Nigeria’s.

    The traditional functions of a Central Bank include formulating and implementing monetary policy, determining interest rates and directing money supply – to achieve price stability; regulating and supervising the banking and financial systems, managing foreign reserve and ensuring the stability of financial markets. It is apparent they play crucial roles in overseeing the financial services sector of the economy. In some countries, they protect the national economies from major crises that could have driven the economies over the cliff.

    Therefore, whoever is going to succeed Sanusi must possess some, or all of these qualities of both Sanusi and Soludo. Among the qualities that stand both Sunusi and Soludo out is their background as trained economists. In addition to that Sunusi had commercial banking experience rising through the ranks to be the post of Managing Director of Nigeria’s oldest bank.

    These qualities and hands -on experience of the workings of the apex bank will be added advantage for his successor. It is not altogether impossible to find someone who fits this bill. The federal government will do well to look inwards and shop for someone with these qualities to give its transformation agenda a further boost.

     

    – Dr. Isa, an economist, lives in Abuja

  • Jonathan versus Sanusi

    Jonathan versus Sanusi

    Women have been a major factor in the life of French President Francois Hollande. When he first ran for President in 2007 his erstwhile lover, Segolene Royal, defeated him for the Socialist Party ticket. He finally became president in 2012. At his side in his hour of triumph was Valerie Trierweiler, his current ‘partner’ with whom he started a relationship whilst still with Royal. Now Hollande is caught in the midst of a storm after the magazine, Closer, published pictures alleging the president had been having an affair with an actress named Julie Gayet. The ‘First Partner’ Trierweiler reportedly feels ‘humiliated,’ the president is angry and threatening legal action. Watch this space!

    Cynics often blithely warn that you should not believe everything you read in the newspapers. Still, reports that President Goodluck Jonathan had demanded the resignation of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, were just too intriguing to ignore.

    Significantly, neither the Presidency – which is often quick on the draw in these sorts of matters – commented on the report, nor did the CBN Governor issue any denial. The silence of the purported antagonists only served to confer a pregnant ring of authenticity on the reports.

    By the accounts, the president had asked that Sanusi fall on his sword as the price for leaking a confidential letter to former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The missive alleged that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had failed to remit to the CBN funds totalling $49.8 billion.

    The exchange between the two men raises very troubling questions about the state of affairs in the country, and how the president exercises the awesome powers of his office.

    The CBN Governor is an appointee of the President. But like the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), although he’s so appointed he has tenure. That is what sets them apart from ministers whose membership of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) can be truncated if their boss wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.

    All the same, the president’s appointee serves at his pleasure. It would follow therefore that once there’s a breakdown of trust between them, the honourable thing would be for the appointee to step aside. But this is one instance where things haven’t been that straight forward.

    For starters, Sanusi’s tenure expires in June. He had long made it clear he wasn’t interested in a second term. In the last few weeks there had also been reports he intended to proceed on pre-retirement leave in March – a little over two months away. So why the sudden stampede to usher him out of the door? The only reason would be to humiliate and cut him down to size.

    This latest episode sheds further light on the mindset of the president and shows how he exercises power. Nothing that has been revealed so far should really shock anyone. According to the report in Thisday, Sanusi had asked the president why he was the one being told to resign and not those who could not account for almost $11 billion that remains ‘missing’.

    Officials of the NNPC and other defenders of the administration celebrated gleefully when it emerged that it wasn’t actually $ 49.8 billion that was not remitted but $ 10.8 billion. They called Sanusi names. But in their rush to defend the indefensible they created the impression that it okay to just toss away trillions of naira without an explanation.

    We have so far not heard reports of angry presidential phone calls to the Minister of Petroleum or Group Managing Director of the NNPC demanding to know how $10.8 billion was expended.

    This should come as no surprise. Early last year, Channels Television broadcast an expose of the disgraceful conditions at the Police College, Ikeja – one of the key training facilities of the force. The report was thoroughly embarrassing for the government. Such was its impact that President Jonathan decided to visit the school.

    But rather than concern himself with the scandalous sights he was confronted with, he was overhead asking some trembling officers how the TV station got permission to film the premises. For him, it was not about decaying facilities; his sense was that the story had been done to paint his administration in bad light!

    Little wonder he’s more concerned that someone leaked a letter to Obasanjo, and not that trillions of naira that should be in the nation’s coffers cannot be accounted for.

    A lot of the time the administration and its spokespersons are wont to claim that critics do not show enough respect to the person and office of the president. Perhaps they should take a quick peek in the mirror to see who’s to blame. In many instances it is Jonathan who through his actions and inaction diminishes his grand office. The exchange with Sanusi is a clear example.

    The president had no business calling CBN Governor to demand his resignation. That is an assignment he could have delegated to one of his minions. By doing the job himself he laid the prestige of the presidency on the line and got an embarrassing rebuff from someone he hired. His bluff has been called without consequences.

    Two weeks have passed since the ‘heated exchange’ took place and Sanusi in still in office. Jonathan could have gone ahead out of wounded pride to announce the governor’s sack, but he would have triggered a very messy political fallout from a National Assembly where the All Peoples Congress (APC) is in the ascendant.

    Contrast the president’s bungling of a high profile sacking with the way Obasanjo handled things. When he wanted to get rid of Audu Ogbeh as the then chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he simply sent emissaries. Some reports claimed the resignation was procured at gunpoint! Not an approach I recommend though! The point here is that a president doesn’t get his hands dirty doing certain things.

    It is obvious that Jonathan in his rage didn’t think through the larger implications – locally and internationally – of him forcing out the CBN Governor. The reactions of the markets would have been very negative. Even with reports of some of sort of truce questions would remain about the character of those in charge of managing this nation. But such things don’t give you pause when you are convinced the whole world is out to get you

  • Sanusi: I won’t resign

    Sanusi: I won’t resign

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi will not leave until June 2 when his five-year tenure expires, it was learnt yesterday.

    Sanusi, who became estranged from the Presidency because of his letter to the President in which he alleged that $49.8billion Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) oil remittance to the Federation Account was missing, has reportedly been told by President Goodluck Jonathan to resign.

    The former First Bank Managing Director told CBN staff that he had shelved his pre-retirement leave and would remain in office till the expiration of his term.

    CBN spokesman Mr. Ugo Okoroafor confirmed yesterday that Sanusi said he would no longer proceed on terminal leave at a “family meeting” with the bank’s staff.

    He spoke to reporters in Abuja on Sanusi’s tenure after a news conference on the execution of the bank’s Payment System Vision 2020 (PSV 2020) strategy.

    ThisDay reported yesterday that Jonathan asked Sanusi to resign for allegedly leaking his letter on the “missing $49.8billion” to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, who wrote a damning letter to the President.

    The story said Dr Jonathan’s directive was rebuffed by the CBN governor who denied leaking the letter to anyone.

    Sanusi reportedly told the President during their heated telephone exchange that he would not be forced out of office. He reiterated that only the voting by two-thirds of the Senate could remove him and not a presidential fiat.

    It is believed that yesterday’s statement by the CBN spokesman that the governor had told the staff that he would no longer proceed on a pre-retirement leave is a direct confirmation of Sanusi’s preparedness to stand on the point he made when he spoke with the President.

    Presidency officials could not be reached for comments.

    A CBN official, who pleaded not to be named, said: ‘We all saw it coming. We knew it was going to get to this point.”

    He did not eleaborate.

    Also yesterday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) advised Dr. Jonathan not to force Sanusi out of office because of such an action’s implication for the economy.

    The opposition party said the President should not destroy the institution.

    In a statement by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said “asking the CBN governor to step down, on the basis of a mere allegation that he leaked the letter he wrote to the President, over the unremitted $49.8billion oil revenue does not bode well for an economy that is already on crutches”.

    It warned that any move to suspend Sanusi and use security forces to prevent him from entering his office, would mean that the President is willing to circumvent the provision of the law that the governor of the CBN can only be removed by two-thirds of the Senate membership.

    The APC said suspending Sanusi would be a replay of the damage that President Jonathan did to the judiciary when he suspended Justice Ayo Salami until his retirement, and he could easily re-enact such a scenario if, for example, he feels that the INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, has offended him.

    ‘’Our worry here is that the President should not destroy our institutions before he leaves office,’’ the party said.

    It said the party’s main reason for commenting on the planned removal of Sanusi, either through forced retirement or via suspension, is the impact that a crisis of confidence between the President and the CBN Governor will have on the nation’s economy.

    ‘’These include a loss of confidence in the economic management of the country, leading to uncertainty among domestic and foreign investors; as well as pressure on the exchange rate as foreign portfolio investors in government bonds and the stock market make their exit, and the corresponding fall in the value of share prices.

    ‘’Overall, a protracted standoff between the President and the CBN Governor will spell bad news for economic growth and employment and increase poverty. This is why we advise President Jonathan against precipitating a crisis in the economy, and we urge all Nigerians to advise him against such,’’ the APC said.

    In APC’s view there was nothing wrong in a CBN Governor alerting the President to any discrepancy he may have noticed in the remittance of revenue from oil, which is the mainstay of the economy, adding that such action is expected from any CBN Governor who is worth his salt.

    It said there is no reason to believe that Sanusi leaked the letter he wrote to the President, especially because the CBN Governor wrote the letter in September and the letter was not leaked until December.

    ‘’It stands to reason that if the CBN Governor had wanted to leak the letter, he had no reason waiting for four months to do so. Also, the moment the letter was sent to Mr. President, it had gone beyond the purview of the CBN Governor and anyone with a reason to do so could as well have leaked the letter.

    “For the President to have made the extraordinary move to force out the CBN Governor, even though he has a few months to the end of his tenure, smacks of vendetta and is capable of impacting negatively on the economy. Circumventing the law to force out the CBN Governor will amount to brigandage and reinforce the perception of the Jonathan Administration as one with a propensity for impunity,’’ the APC­­ said.

  • CBN confirms Sanusi’s June 2 exit

    CBN confirms Sanusi’s June 2 exit

    Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday confirmed Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi will leave office on June 2 this year.

    Speaking to journalists at the end of a press briefing on the execution of the Payments System Vision 2020 (PSV2020) Strategy, in Abuja, the CBN’s spokesman Mr. Ugo Okoroafor, said Sanusi held a “family meeting” with staff of the bank and told them that he was no longer proceeding on “terminal leave” but will serve out his tenure in office as CBN governor till June 2.

    Reports indicated that the CBN governor had agreed to proceed on “terminal leave” in March following the fiasco generated by the report of the allegedly missing $49.8 billion that was supposed to have accrued to the federation account.

    However, Okoroafor, has dismissed the report, saying the “terminal leave” if it was ever in the offing was no longer feasible as Sanusi has resolved to leave office in June 2.

    Earlier, the apex bank’s outgoing Deputy Governor, Operations, Mr. Tunde Lemo, declined to speak on his expected exit from office on Friday, but disclosed that the CBN has put into live operations, a new Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system, integrated with a Scripless Securities Settlement System (SSSS) system.

    He noted that the new RTGS replaces one that was implemented seven years ago as part of the then CBN transformation programme code-named Project EAGLES.

     

     

  • Sanusi’s letter

    Sanusi’s letter

    Just how much is the shortfall of the cash that should have been sent to the federation account? That was how this newspaper raised the poser in the aftermath of the meeting of the reconciliation team of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Federal Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders. The reconciliation team was put together in the wake of the controversy stoked by the September 25 letter from the CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, to President Goodluck Jonathan alleging under-remittance of $49.804 billion into the federation account in about 18 months.

    In the letter addressed to the president but which was subsequently leaked to the media, Sanusi had observed of the curious book-keeping in the sector: “Our analysis of the value of crude oil export proceeds based on the documentation received from pre-shipment inspectors shows that between January 2012 and July 2013, NNPC lifted 594,024,107 barrels of crude valued at $65,332,350,514.57.”

    “Out of this amount”, he noted, “NNPC repatriated only $15,528,410,098.77 representing 24 percent of the value.  This means the NNPC is yet to account for, and repatriate to the Federation Account, an amount in excess of $49.804 billion of the value of oil lifted in the same period.”

    He drew inferences from the apex bank’s table of analysis of the crude oil liftings and repatriations to further observe that “the failure of the NNPC to repatriate the amounts constitutes not only a violation of constitutional provisions but also of both Nigeria’s foreign exchange and pre-shipment inspection of exports laws”.

    He then recommended that the President (1) require NNPC to provide evidence for disposal of all proceeds of crude sales diverted from the CBN and Federation Account; (2) Investigate crude oil lifting and swap contracts, as well as the financial transactions of counter-parties for equity, fairness and transparency; and, (3) Authorise prosecution of suspects in money-laundering transactions, including but not limited to BDCs who are unable to account for hundreds of millions of dollars.

    Dismissing Sanusi’s letter as lacking in substance, the NNPC had insisted that the furore was borne of pure misunderstanding on the part of the CBN governor. The only point of agreement between the NNPC and the CBN governor was that the 24 per cent of total crude oil revenue receipts, which the CBN governor conceded had been remitted into the federation account, actually represents the proceeds from the equity lifting which NNPC is directly responsible for.

    As for the balance of the 76 per cent and which the apex bank chief alleged was unremitted, it explained that these were paid to the agencies statutorily empowered to receive them for onward remittance into the federation account. These agencies are the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, and the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR.

    Was the CBN governor therefore crying wolf where there was none? Clearly, the charge of gross misstatement of the matter by the CBN governor, given the facts in public domain, would be hard to dismiss. Writing to the President without perusing the figures is an inexcusable lapse; not even his subsequent explanation that in “trying to understand where those leakages were, our attention was drawn to a huge difference between what appeared to be export of crude made by NNPC and amount repatriated into the crude equity account of the Federal Government” would mitigate the faux pas.

    Throwing away the message would, of course be a greater disservice, particularly as the overall evidence would seem to indicate that a lot is amiss than the gloaters in the NNPC and the finance ministry are willing to admit about the mess they have made the oil industry and the public accounts under their watch.

    To be sure, nothing in the preliminary finding of the joint panel put together to reconcile the figures remotely suggest that the NNPC is anything in the clear, at least not yet. Noteworthy is that the panel has in fact established vast differences between crude sales and remittances, which at the moment, is a question of who to believe between Sanusi’s figure of $12 billion and finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s figure of $10.8 billion. That we are talking of yet-to-be reconciled billions of dollars makes the gloating by the finance ministry and the NNPC absurd.

    No doubt, Sanusi may have been typically overzealous – or if you like, alarmist; his charges are neither baseless nor spurious. To dismiss the charges off-hand is to miss completely the underlying concerns aptly captured in the letter. The concerns relate to the “very low rate of accretion to the reserves in spite of very high level of oil prices and in particular, depletion of excess crude account in spite of what seems to be very high level of oil sales”.

    In this, Sanusi must be seen as merely giving vent to the same concerns about the dwindling rate of accretion long expressed by majority of Nigerians, including no less a body than the Nigeria Governors Forum. Not only is the situation at the root of the crises in the monthly meeting of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, it is at the heart of the dire financial state of the 36 states in the federation.

    The on-going reconciliation should therefore be the starting point in what promises to be a long journey to get the NNPC to become accountable and transparent in its day-to-day activities. Nigerians expect nothing short of the resolution of the puzzle in which oil prices would be moving up while the inflow into the federation account would be headed in the opposite direction. They are interested in how many barrels are sold daily and at what price. What about the grave allegation that the quantum of crude retained by NNPC for local consumption is actually sold at a discount?

    Who are the officials behind the mystery transaction?

    What the present situation demands is a thorough, comprehensive audit of the NNPC. The National Assembly should help kick off the process without further delay. It should bother our lawmakers that past calls for the overhaul of the corporation have been largely ignored. Seems about time something drastic is done about the outlawry in the corporation.

  • AMCON redeems N1tr bond December 30

    AMCON redeems N1tr bond December 30

    The Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) will redeem N1 trillion series one, two, three and four bonds held by institutions outside the central bank on December 30.

    To ensure that nothing untoward happens to the money, the Central Bank if Nigeria is already in possession of the fund preparatory to redemption.

    Addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday at the agreement signing ceremony between CBN and AMCON, for the bonds redemption, the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi ,said by October next year, an additional N1 trillion bond for series five would be redeemed by AMCON.

    Sanusi stated that redemption of the N1 trillion bonds became necessary after the N5.7 trillion bonds issued had enabled AMCON to improve the  troubled banks’ liquidity.

    He said, “Some of the money will come from the sale of the underlying assets by AMCON and the N5.7 trillion includes interest component, the amount AMCON owes of N3.8 trillion. We are at a point where AMCON balance sheet has enabled them to raise enough money to pay for this bond.”

    The CBN governor added that when both tranches of redemption are completed by October next year, “the only creditor to AMCON will be the apex bank.

    “No one will hold AMCON bond. So this will now be AMCON owing the central bank and this is positive for this economy,” Sanusi stated.

     

     

  • Sanusi retracts comments on ‘missing oil funds’

    Sanusi retracts comments on ‘missing oil funds’

    ‘I didn’t say $49.8b oil revenue is missing’

    The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Sanusi Lamido, on Wednesday told the Senate that the conclusion that $49.8 billion oil revenue was missing was wrong.

    The CBN Governor also told the lawmakers that the letter he wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan about possible non remittance of accurate oil earnings to the Federation Account was an invitation to probe remittances to the Federation Account.

    He said though relevant government agencies had commenced reconciliation of their accounts, about $12 billion was still outstanding.

    Sanusi made the observations at a public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Finance on alleged missing of $49.8 billion oil earning.

    The Senate had mandated its committee on Finance to investigate alleged missing $49.8 billion crude oil funds.

    Senate President, David Mark, asked the Senator Ahmed Makarfi led Finance Committee to turn in report of the investigation “at the earliest possible time because this requires urgent attention.”

    The resolution to probe the alleged missing money followed a Point of Order raised by Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi (Ekiti North) on the development.

    Relying on Order 42 which deals with matter of urgent public attention, Adetunmbi drew attention of the Senate to a newspaper publication of “$49.8 billion ‘missing’ oil money.”

    He described the development as “a very grave issue that the parliament owed the public the duty to follow up.”

    Mark, in his opening remarks at the public hearing noted that the essence of the hearing was to establish the fact about the alleged missing $49.8 billion oil revenue.

    He said that what the Senate had was an allegation, though a serious allegation.

    He noted that the Senate has no position on the issue except what was published in the papers.

     

  • NNPC accuses Sanusi of playing politics with $49.8bn claim

    NNPC accuses Sanusi of playing politics with $49.8bn claim

    The Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Andrew Yakubu, yesterday described the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s claim that the corporation failed to remit $49.8 billion into the Federation Account from January 2012 to July 2013 as a political instrument in preparation for the 2015 general elections.

    According to Yakubu who spoke at a world press conference in Abuja, it is a baseless and unfounded allegation targeted at ridiculing the management of the NNPC.

    He said: “In conclusion, I want to say from what I have said clearly that the allegation is unfounded. It is baseless and it has become a political instrument in the current politically charged environment. And we consider this as an attempt to ridicule NNPC and the management of NNPC.”

    Asked to explain what he meant by political instrument, the NNPC boss added that : “When this issue came up about four months ago, we made our clarification to the Hon. Minister of Petroleum Resources. For it to surface at this time that the political atmosphere is charged, we are taken aback. It is left for you journalists to do your investigative journalism to unravel the reason behind this attack.”

    Yakubu explained that all NNPC crude oil lifting is made up of equity crude, royalty oil, tax oil, volume for third party financing and Nigeria Petroleum Development Company equity volume.

    He noted that remittances of proceeds from the above liftings are made to statutory and production arrangements.

    The GMD said: “Accordingly, proceeds from equity crude is paid by the NNPC into the Federation Account which is held by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Similarly, the proceeds from Tax oil or Petroleum Profit Tax lifted by NNPC is paid directly into the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) account also managed by the CBN.

    “It should now be clear to all that NNPC is by statutory requirement responsible for direct remittances of only one stream of lifting, namely Equity Crude.”

  • Sanusi playing politics with $49.8b claim – NNPC

    Sanusi playing politics with $49.8b claim – NNPC

    The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Andrew Yakubu, on Friday described the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s claim that the corporation failed to remit $49.8 billion into the Federation Account from January 2012 to July 2013 as a “political instrument for the 2015 general elections.”

    Yakubu, who spoke at a world press conference at Abuja, said it is a baseless and unfounded allegation targeted at ridiculing the management of the NNPC.

    He said: “In conclusion, I want to say from what I have said clearly that the allegation is unfounded. It is baseless and it has become a political instrument in the current politically charged environment. And we consider this as an attempt to ridicule the corporation and its management.”

    Asked to explain what he meant by political instrument, the NNPC boss added, “So, I am taken aback that this issue that came up about four months ago, we made our clarification to the Hon. Minister of Petroleum Resources four months ago and for it to surface at this time that the political atmosphere is charged, then we find it difficult. We are taken aback, then it is left for you journalists to do your investigative journalism to unravel the reason behind this attack.”

    Yakubu, however, explained that NNPC crude oil lifting include equity crude, royalty oil, tax oil, volume for third party financing and Nigeria Petroleum Development Company equity volume.