Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke will be investigated by the Federal House of Representatives after claiming the country realised only $20.9bn from crude oil sales since the beginning of the year, contrary to the content of other documents in the custody of the legislators.
Asides the probe, the House is also interested in getting to the root of the secrecy with which the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have handled figures on production and proceeds from gas.
According to Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Abdulmumin Jibrin, Alison-Madueke’s $20.9bn claim could never have been true; and Nigerians would certainly like to have the minister explain why and how the nation fell short of N321bn in its revenue from oil in the same period under review.
He appealed that the investigation should not be misconstrued for an attempt to witch-hunt anyone, rather an honest plan to entrench transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector.
“Nigerians are only interested in how much is actually going to the coffers of Federal Government from the said $20.9 billion,” he said, adding that official documents and figures confirm, contrary to the minister’s claims, that revenue targets were only barely met in the months of April, when N212.029bn was remitted and in May, when N210.202bn was remitted.
