NNPC had earlier supplied a memo on the fund but withdrew it and agreed to re-present it after reconciling the figures. The Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led committee also asked the Auditor-General of the Federation, Samuel Okura, to explain the link between routine checks by his office in NNPC and the committee’s investigation.
Okura was asked to furnish the committee with information on whether the periodic checks his office carries out in the NNPC had to do with the subject matter of its investigation.
The Auditor-General, citing section 85 of the 1999 Constitution, informed the committee that his office lacked the constitutional power to audit the accounts of the NNPC, but that he had begun a routine check on the corporation as provided for in the constitution.
Said Makarfi: “We want you to, in writing, confirm to us what you are checking in the NNPC accounts. Does it cover what we are looking for? We will only make further directives on this matter when you write a letter to us to tell us whether or not what you are doing covered our own area of investigation.”
On the confusion generated by an earlier memo submitted to the committee, Group Managing Director of NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, informed the lawmakers that, “in view of the confusion, there is the need to further clarify and align figures. So, we will withdraw the submission and present it again.”
The committee had pointed out that figures in the memo as read out during yesterday’s hearing were confusing as they did not add up to the $2.4 billion earlier claimed by the NNPC.
In her submission to the committee yesterday, Acting Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Sarah Alade, said that the apex bank will remain on the side of the law with respect to what fraction of the revenue generated by the NNPC should be remitted to the Federation Account.
Makarfi had asked her to provide specific position on what percentage of the generated funds of the NNPC should go to the Federation Account.
“Look, the committee expects the CBN to provide details on the percentage that ought to be paid into the Federation Account by the NNPC. We should try to be as specific as possible if we are saying something. If you are not in a position to know, then it is wrong to assume,” Makarfi said.
The committee ended its public hearings yesterday even as it directed agencies that still had some documents to submit them without further delay. Makarfi announced that the committee would soon commence private hearings to analyse all submissions that had been made to it.
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