$1.05bn NLNG Dividend Not Missing – Senate Committee

The Senate Committee on Gas has again confirmed that no $1.05 billion NLNG dividend was missing.

The
Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Bassey Albert, had clarified
that the ongoing investigation of the application of $1.05billion
Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividend to support the importation
of petroleum products into the country had nothing to do with any
missing funds since no such money was missing in the first place.

Downstream
operators who spoke on the controversy said the efforts of NNPC in
ensuring that there was no scarcity of petrol during Christmas yielded
positive results as Nigerians had a hitch-free celebrations.

“It
was evident that the NNPC judiciously utilised available resources to
ensure uninterrupted supply of petrol,” said a CEO of oil marketing
company, who spoke on anonymity.

Senator Albert, who doubles as
the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Application of the NLNG
Dividend, had clarified that the mandate of the Committee was to
determine the instrument under which NNPC relied upon to affect the said
withdrawal and subsequent application of the NLNG dividend to meet
pressing national demand for fuel supply, noting that the Committee
relies on NNPC to provide informed perspective on the issues.

The
Senate Committee Chairman emphasised that the engagement with NNPC was
to understand the rudiments of the account flow and also to discover how
the Committee, working in harmony with NNPC, could make the NLNG
dividend more effective and beneficial to the nation.

Responding,
Mr. Isiaka Abdulrazaq, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of NNPC, who
represent the corporation’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru,
pledged the willingness of the corporation to support the Committee in
its assignment, saying that relevant documents have been supplied to the
panel to enable it determine the veracity or otherwise of NNPC’s
perspective.