Posted by By ISAAC ANUMIHE, Abuja on
The report of the extractive industries on the handling of cash call account has roundly indicted the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the effect that the corporation has about $933million held in its transitory account.
The report of the extractive industries on the handling of cash call account has roundly indicted the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the effect that the corporation has about $933million held in its transitory account.
But speaking on the financial report at a press briefing, the Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Dr Oby Ezekwesili said that the allegation needs clarifications noting that the distribution of about $3.4 billion of the total cash call should have spread over the entire year.
Oby condemned NNPC for leaving so much cash until the last month of the year.
According to her, this act would normally raise concerns about the quality of spending saying that it was not the best way to go.
'It is similar to what many agencies used to do. They tend to rush to spend whatever balances they have in their accounts at the end of the year so they don't lose it,'' she said.
Given the confusion arising from the payment by the oil companies, the minister noted that though the Interim Financial Audit Report of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), will not address whether oil companies have paid the exact amount of money or not. This, she said, will come after the completion of the physical audit (to be ready in February) when actual qualities of oil and gas produced and sold are ascertained.
The minister, however, flayed report on the observation that the culture of weak record-keeping in government agencies causes unnecessary delays in the audit process and clearly a challenge to policymakers.
Also, she observed the weak system of accounting control which creates an environment for corruption. Also observed is the weakness in the oversight/regulatory agencies, particularly in the capacity to assess royalty payments that are due to government.
Furthermore, she identified the weakness in the report to the effect that both Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Department for Petroleum Resources (DPR), do not appear to have the system in place to check that the amount paid by oil companies is actually what they should be paying.