The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in a bid to explain the alleged unremitted and unreconciled revenue of $10.8 billion has said that it has spent the money within the framework of the law in discharging its responsibilities to the Nigerian people and the Federal government.
Group Executive Director, Finance and Accounts Directorate of the Corporation, Mr. Bernard Otti speaking to newsmen in Abuja said, “Whatever expenditure we have incurred in the discharge of the national responsibilities and is backed by the law setting up the Corporation”. He said the Corporation spent the money on PMS subsidy, repairs of vandalised pipeline and products/crude oil losses as well as maintenance of national strategic reserves.
He added, “the sum in question has been expenditures incurred as part of statutory responsibilities which the NNPC as a National Oil Company executes on behalf of the Federal Government and by extension the entire people of Nigeria.”
“There is a process by which revenue accrue into government account, there is also government policy stating that subsidy is still in place. NNPC does not create policies but it execute s policies, the subsidy claim has simply arisen because after 2011period. We saw there was no import of petroleum products when prices had gone up, NNPC was the sole importer and subsidy claims for this particular period had gone up. The subsidy claims normally is known to all relevant agencies.”
“It is also on record that for many years now, NNPC has been the main supplier of products to the nation. Most of these products are imported at international prices but sold at regulated prices.
“At some point, NNPC was the sole importer of products into the country. The Corporation has successfully kept the nation wet with products, especially PMS, for the past three years as can be verified from the absence of queues at petrol stations during normal and festive seasons.
“It is significant to note that the government has not made any payments to the Corporation in the name of subsidy during the period under review.
“I should like to use this opportunity to restate our position on subsidy. The subsidy is a policy of the Federal Government. We only implement what we are directed to,” he said.
Otti stressed further that “another area of huge expenditure on behalf of the Federal Government is the maintenance of national strategic reserves for petroleum products. At every point in time round the year, NNPC maintains huge petroleum products reserves on land and in the national territorial waters.”