Missing oil money: Financial riddles yet to be solved

Nigeria's finance minister, Okonjo-Iweala

In September 2013, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan, alerting him that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had failed to repatriate $49.8 billion, being proceeds from the sale of Nigeria’s crude oil between January 2012 and July 2013, into the Federation Account. The letter leaked to the public in December 2013, causing an uproar across the nation and abroad. The exposure of the letter forced a reconciliation of figures by the NNPC, CBN and Federal Ministry of Finance. The contentious amount was “adjusted” downwards to $10.8bn.
The NNPC has attempted to explain this sum away, saying it was used up in the agency’s operations. But does it matter how much is “missing” or hasn’t been accounted for? First, it is bad enough that, for such a long time, a huge chunk of revenue generated for the country was not accounted for. Second, the NNPC has been operating with impunity for a long time now. This has to stop. It does not have the constitutional right to spend a dime that is not appropriated. Under the law, all federally generated revenue must first be repatriated to the Federation Account. 

 This amount (almost N2 trillion) cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand. Our sacred (cash) cow, the NNPC, must reconcile the amount with the relevant agencies, even if the money was indeed used in NNPC’s operations and therefore not repatriated. At least, there is no independent verification of NNPC’s claims.

Central bank gov, Sanusi

Petroleum Minister, Madueke

Sanusi’s letter leaked a time there were numerous rumours and innuendos regarding the president’s stance on corruption. In addressing this issue, however, politics must be kept out. It shouldn't be about personalities; it should be about compelling government agencies to be accountable to Nigerians. It should also be about getting to the bottom of the missing billions. The CBN, NNPC and Federal Ministry of Finance, the three agencies that determine Nigeria’s economic trajectory, must be seen to be above board, or else the confidence reposed in Nigeria that warranted the recent increase in FDI into the country will be eroded.

We fear that the matter is being put on the back burner. Sadly, also, the controversy surrounding the determination of the actual amount not repatriated has obscured other issues raised in Sanusi’s letter. There is still the matter of NNPC’s failure to remit the Nigerian Export Supervision Scheme (NESS) levy to the tune of N22bn, and the potentially more serious case of round-tripping by bureau de change (BDC) operators. According to the letter, a list has been compiled of BDCs that have purchased hundreds of millions of dollars from the inter-bank market but have failed to account for the money.
What actions are the authorities going to take? Nigerians are waiting for these riddles to be solved. They are watching. Culled from Leadership Newspaper