We have recovered $1.6bn from fraudsters —NNPC

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said that it has realized the sum of $1.6bn from some companies swindling one of its subsidiaries.

The Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr Maikanti Baru, on Tuesday, made this known in Abuja while speaking with newsmen after a visit by officials of the Chartered Institute of Forensic and Investigative Professionals of Nigeria (CIFIPN).

CIFIPN is an anti-Fraud organisation saddled with the responsibility of providing skills to professionals from relevant fields on the use of science and technology to detect, prevent and investigate fraud and also put some measures to prevent future occurrence.

He said that its upstream subsidiary fleeced was the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

Baru also said that his monitoring had made significant progress in terms of fraud detection, prevention and control. “There is a lot of sanities that has happened in the industry as a result of this. Recently, due to the work, we were able to get the Atlantic companies who were fleecing the NNPC subsidiary, the NPDC, and we got an award for them to refund 1.6 billion dollars to the NPDC, through the arbitration process.

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“We have also been able to stem fraud. High profile court cases were been set up to defraud the NPDC.

“If you see the amount of money involved, if you do not have people who are determined to fight corruption, our chances would have been compromised by over 1.6 billion dollars.

“We have had cases, like NNPC versus IPCO, where they are demanding over 400 million dollars, and because of their activities, we were able to settle out of court with them for 37.5 million dollars, which is a saving of several percentages, about less than 10 per cent of the total amount.” he said.

According to Baru the recovery was possible as all staff of the corporation and its business partners had imbibed transparency in all areas of their operations.

Baru who was also conferred an award by the institute, said he would support the institute with his wealth of knowledge to help boost forensic investigation in the country.

“This institute’s intention is quite laudable and conferment of fellows on me will make me more determined to support them and being a patron will make me to share some of the knowledge I have,’’ he had said earlier.

Dr Victoria Enape, the Pro-tem President of CIFIPN, in his comment, said the institute had watched the GMD with keen interest since assumption of office.

Victoria also recognized NNPC’s partnership with Nigeria Customs Service and Department of Petroleum Resources in the fight against petroleum products smuggling in the country.

This, she said, was commendable, adding that effort to manage oil marketers and maintaining an adequate supply of products in the country had shown the high level of transparency and accountability in the operations of the corporation.

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