The House of Representatives has called for an audit of the assets and liabilities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation before it is fully privatised.
At the plenary on Wednesday, the House resolved to set up a panel to carry out the exercise within eight weeks.
This was based on a motion moved by a member, Ibrahim Isiaka, which was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers.
The motion was titled ‘Need to ascertain the total consolidated inventory, assets, interests and liabilities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries before transfer to the NNPC limited to ensure a glossary accounting system’.
Following the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act, the NNPC and its subsidiaries have been unbundled with the creation of an NNPC Company Limited, the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and the Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
The Corporate Affairs Commission had also in September announced that it had completed the incorporation of the NNPC Company Limited in line with the provisions of the PIA.
Section53(1) of the PIA requires the Minister of Petroleum Resources to cause for the incorporation of the NNPC Limited within six months of the enactment of the PIA in consultation with the Minister of Finance on the nominal shares of the company.
As a limited liability company, NNPC will be required to pay taxes and dividends to its shareholders.
Moving the motion on Wednesday, Isiaka recalled that the NNPC was established on April 1, 1977 as a merger of the Nigerian National Oil Corporation and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum and Energy Resources.
The lawmaker prayed the House to mandate its Committees on Finance, Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and Gas Resources to ‘conduct investigations into the consolidated inventory, assets, interests and liabilities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries to ensure a legitimate transition process of NNPC/NNPC Limited and report back within eight weeks for further legislative action.”
The Majority Whip, Mohammed Monguno, however, prayed for an ad hoc committee instead of the joint committee as proposed by the sponsor, noting that each of the committees had large membership.
Monguno’s prayer was unanimously granted by the lawmakers.
The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, asked the Majority Leader, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, to compile a list of a15-member committee by Thursday to carry out the exercise.
Meanwhile, the House also resolved on Wednesday to investigate debts allegedly owed Nigeria by International Oil Companies to the tune of N2.6tn.
The resolution followed the unanimous adoption of a motion moved by a member, Ahmed Munir, titled ‘Urgent need to recover outstanding debts owed the Federal Government by oil and gas companies in Nigeria’.
Munir had cited a report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative that 77 oil and gas companies operating in Nigeria owed the Federal Government over N2.6tn.
Responding, the Majority Leader, AlhassanAdo-Doguwa said he was not sure if the sponsor got his facts right. He, however, noted that a probe would clarify the facts.
Source PUNCH
