CAC, FIRS received N2.9bn for registering NNPCL, claims ex-CFO

Former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Umar Ajiya, has revealed that N2.9 billion, and not N5.8 billion was spent to register the company.

He spoke during his appearance before the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) on Wednesday while seeking to dismiss widespread allegations that NNPCL could not account for N210 trillion.

According to him, N2.9 billion was paid to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) now renamed Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).

Ajiya told lawmakers that no money was missing and argued that public perception had skewed the issues contained in the audit report.

On allegations that N5.8 billion was spent to register NNPCL, Aliya stated: “That is not true. The amount used to register the company was N2.9 billion. It was paid to two government agencies – CAC and FIRS.

“There is no third party paid by Kobo to register the company.”

He also said, “No money was lost,” he said.

“If any money had gone missing at NNPC during our monitoring period, we would not have dared to publish the audited accounts.

“In the last 44 years, the accounts were either not prepared or hidden from the public and sometimes even from the Auditor General.

READ ALSO: ‘NNPC is a house of thieves’, says Oshiomhole, as Senate investigates alleged missing funds

“We made it mandatory not only to provide it to the Auditor General but also to place it on our website for Nigerians to scrutinize.”

On the controversial N210 trillion figure, Ajiya argued that the claim was mathematically impossible.

“The entire revenue earned in the period under review for the entire NNPC, assuming no kobos were spent on producing oil, was N54.5 trillion.

“So how come N210 trillion disappeared? I had previously ordered a forensic audit to be carried out. Whoever stole the money, immediately arrest and imprison that person.
We don’t steal,” he said.

Ajiya further warned that the unverified allegations against the NNPCL would damage Nigeria’s international reputation and ability to attract funding.

“The danger is that we not only damage the character of individuals, companies and workers there, but also Nigeria itself.

“Whatever we tell the public is what the rating agencies use to rate Nigeria. And then, our credit rating goes down,” he said.

Citing the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project, he said: “A similar thing happened in the past when we sought funds to fund the AKK project – about $2.5 billion from China.

“A Nigerian citizen, an unpatriotic person, wrote a petition to the Chinese government and the loan was stopped after the sovereign guarantee was issued.

“That’s why the project is still not finished.”