Reps, NNPC disagree on revenue remittance

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday disagreed with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on the interpretation of the corporation’s Act.

The two parties had disagreed on the sections of the NNPC Act that dealt with remittance of funds to the Federation Account.

The committee invited NNPC Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, to explain the corporation’s 2015 financial operations following a query by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (OAGF).

The OAGF had queried the NNPC for deducting N865 billion from N2.4 trillion generated by the corporation in 2015.

Kyari, who addressed the lawmakers, said the actions of NNPC were backed by provisions of the law which allowed the corporation to make deductions of running costs from source.

He said: “What we do is backed by the provisions of the law. First the NNPC Act is very clear that we should submit revenues net of our cost.

“There is also an informed decision of the Supreme Court and also the Attorney General of the Federation that the position is correct and supported by the provisions of the law.”

However, the Chairman of the Committee, said the NNPC was a state-owned corporation.

READ ALSO: Reps commence inquest into non-remittance of N3.9bn by NNPC

He said the NNPC was expected to operate and make a profit for the country, adding that it was unacceptable for the corporation to spend what it generated as running costs.

Oke stressed the need for the National Assembly to come up with a bill that would make money available for the running cost of the corporation while remitting every revenue generated to the government.

He said: “We need to read the provisions of the NNPC Act along with sections 80 and 81 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to be able to decide which is superior and which we are to follow.

“We will set up a sub-committee of legal minded members to read through the judgment of the Supreme Court on this matter vis-a-vis the letter from Office of the Attorney General.

“We need to make an informed position of the matter. If the Supreme Court has taken a position, we need to be mindful of such.

“If we are in disagreement, the best option we have is to go into legislation, because it means the court has clearly interpreted the provisions of the law. Sources of law are judicial precedents.

“That is the way we can come up with an enactment, amendment, or repeal. So I want to suggest that we reserve ruling on the query bordering on deductions at source.”

Oke said the committee would rule on the matter after a critical study of the law books and Supreme Court ruling.

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