Buhari Threatens NNPC, Others With 30 Days Deadline To Respond To Queries Or Face Sanctions

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari has ordered all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAS) to respond to all outstanding queries within 30 days or face sanctions.

Massive anxiety looms as the more than 50 MDAs, including Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) Department of Petroleum Resources, (DPR) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) are all indicted in the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report.

President Buhari has threatened to wield the big stick as the report questioned the deduction of N2,308,749,174,308.54 Excess Crude Oil/PPT/Royalty from oil and gas revenue before the balance was paid into the Federation Account.

The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement said Buhari was irrevocably committed to tackling administrative and bureaucratic corruption.

The statement said: “President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Auditor-General of the Federation to ensure that all outstanding audit queries are conclusively resolved within 30 days.

“President Buhari has also ordered that henceforth, all audit queries must be answered within 24 hours.

“The orders followed the President’s displeasure on hearing that audit queries remained unanswered for long periods, sometimes running into years, under previous administrations.”

Some of those with outstanding queries in 2012 AGF Report are:
– NNPC -(1) Deduction of N2,308,749,174,308.54 Excess Crude Oil/PPT/Royalty from oil and gas revenue before the balance was paid into the Federation Account.

(2) Failure to remit revenue from domestic crude oil sales totaling N936,027,634,479.81 as well as $998,881.77 interest earned on the Joint Venture Cash Calls in 2012

– DPR -(a) N377,264, 685, 789.54 questionable deductions in favour of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

(b) $706,880,265.22 unpaid by 21 oil companies as royalties on oil.

*The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) got N1, 454,035, 989,899.78.

– PPPRA – Payment of N229,740,438,597.27 as subsidy

*Office of the AGF———To explain the difference of N41,856,530,921.54 as well as pay back total sum of N1,901,213,713,587.07 into the Federation Account.

Shehu said those who violate financial regulations will henceforth pay a heavy price.

He continued: “The era of impunity is gone. The President is taking the war on corruption to the civil service. He is not happy that standard operating procedures and financial regulations are no longer being observed as they should.

“President Buhari will ensure that public officials and civil servants in the service of the Federal Government pay a heavy price from now on for violating financial regulations or disregarding audit queries.”

According to him, the President was determined to “put an end to the present situation in which, rather than respond to legitimate audit queries, violators of financial regulations in government resort to threatening, bribing or mounting other forms of social pressure on auditors.

“On his watch, President Buhari wants to see firm action against those who violate extant financial regulations, not the prevarications and shenanigans that went on in the past in the form of endless probes and public inquiries.”