Emefiele, CBN top directors to appear before Senate over alleged missing $9.5m

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will face Senate committee today, Tuesday, over alleged missing $9.5 million interest. The fund was from the Petroleum Profit Tax investment.

Emefiele will face the Senate Public Account Committee alongside other CBN directors to explain the whereabouts of the fund which the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, reported missing in his 2016 report.

Why Is Emefiele, CBN Top Directors Involved In Senate Probe

Idris had also faced the Senate committee last week, addressing the 2016 report. He stated that investigation showed $6 million and $3.5 million were credited to the Foreign PPT/Royalty and Foreign Excess Crude Account as interest on funds’ investments close to the end of the year in 2016.

However, there was no evidence issuing authority to make such transfers, and as at December 28, 2016, the funds had depleted to USD0.00 ($6 million) and USD251,826 ($3.5 million respectively.

Read also: Nigeria on path of economic recovery in 2021 – Emefiele

With no evidence or documents providing explanation as to the authority to transfer and how the funds got wiped, the Senate summoned CBN’s Emefiele and other top management members.

The Petroleum Profit Tax investment is generated from taxing of the upstream operations in the oil industry. The PPT is derived from margins, rents, royalties, prospecting and exploration leases, as well as oil mining.

The Auditor-General report said the CBN under Emefiele had failed to give positive response, “This observation had also been a subject of my reports since 2017 without any positive response from Central Bank of Nigeria.

“Records made available for audit further revealed that the balance in the foreign PPT/Royalty and Foreign Excess Crude accounts as at 28th December 2016 were USD0.00 and USD251,826 respectively.” the report reads in part.

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