- Oil companies owe federation $6.17bn in unpaid royalties, taxes – NEITI
Former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, on Thursday, disagreed over the removal of the Emir as the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria when Jonathan was President.
Jonathan also denied that $49.8 billion was missing from the government’s treasuries during his tenure.
He said he never sacked the former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido, for alerting Nigerians over the alleged missing funds.
However, Sanusi said Jonathan sacked him as CBN governor, contrary to the former President’s claim that he was only suspended.
They both spoke during the launch of a book, “Public Policy and Agents Interests: Perspectives from the Emerging World”.
The book is co-authored by former Minister of Finance, Shamshudeen Usman, who served as Minister of Planning under his government, and the Emir.
Reacting to Jonathan’s claim, the monarch jokingly told the former President that he (Jonathan) “constructively sacked him.”
Sanusi, who took to the podium hours after Jonathan’s comment, insisted that he was sacked by Jonathan.
“My boss who sacked me. I was constructively dismissed. I continue to respect Jonathan and I don’t have grudges against anyone,” Emir said, as he delivered a short message at the event he presided over as Royal Father of the Day.
Insisting that no such amount was lost in his government, Jonathan told attendees at the event, one of whom was the 16th Emir of Kano, that an internationally-recognised audit firm engaged to probe the alleged missing amount, gave the administration a clean bill of health.
Jonathan also recounted how he was confronted by then President of Germany, Angela Merkel, over the matter and that he explained that such money couldn’t have been stolen from a struggling country.
He said, “Let me mention that I did not agree with some issues raised by one of the contributors (to the book). But I don’t intend to join issues because he is our royal father. And he is here.
“The one he raised that he was sacked because he blew a whistle that the Federal Government lost $49.8 billion is not quite correct.
“He was not sacked. He was suspended because the Financial Reporting Council queried the expenditure of CBN. And there were serious infractions that needed to be looked at. That was the reason.
“But somehow, the time was short. So before we finished, his tenure elapsed. Probably, he would have been called back.
“On the issue of $ 49.8 billion, till today, I am not convinced that the Federal Government lost $49.8 billion.
“And that year, our budget was $31.6 billion. So for a country that had a budget of $31.6 billion to lose about $50 billion and salaries were paid; nobody felt anything.
“The researchers that wrote this book need to do further research.
“And more so, when our revered royal father came up with the figures. First $49.8 billion, later $20 billion and later $12 billion. I don’t even know the correct one.”
He said he was vindicated about the claim after the former CBN governor began to change the narrative from $49bn to $20bn and later $12bn.
Jonathan further added that Price Water Coopers, PWC, which investigated the matter, revealed that no such amount was stolen.
However, he added that $1.48 billion could not be accounted for by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, (now NNPCL) at the time.
Oil companies owe federation $6.17bn in unpaid royalties, taxes – NEITI
Meanwhile, oil companies’ liabilities to the federation have risen to $6.175 billion as of June 2024, according to an audit of the petroleum industry by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
These liabilities include $6.071 billion and ₦66.4 billion in unpaid royalties and gas flare penalties owed to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission by August 31, 2024.
Additionally, there are outstanding petroleum profit taxes, company income taxes, withholding taxes, and VAT owed to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) amounting to $21.926 million and ₦492.8 million as of June 2024.
The 2022/2023 oil and gas industry report, presented on Thursday in Abuja, also revealed a 9% drop in industry revenue in 2023, with $16.467 billion recorded compared to $18.106 billion in 2022.
In terms of production, oil output increased by 9.5% in 2023, reaching 537.57 million barrels, up from 490.94 million barrels in 2022.
The report highlighted that the highest production volume over the past decade was 798.54 million barrels in 2014, while the lowest was 490.94 million barrels in 2022.
The NEITI report disclosed a total loss of 7.68 million barrels of crude oil in 2023 due to theft and measurement errors, a significant drop of 79% from the 36.69 million barrels lost in 2022. Additionally, 153.44 million barrels of crude oil production were deferred in 2023, with companies like SPDC (39.13 million barrels), TEPNG (6.07 million barrels), and TUPNI (3.5 million barrels) being the most affected.
The report disclosed that the government paid N3.01 trillion as petrol subsidy in 2023 compared to N4.71 trillion paid in 2022.
It stated that a total of 23.54 billion litres of PMS (premium motor spirit) were imported into the country in 2022, while 20.28 billion litres were imported in 2023.
This represents a reduction of 3.25 billion litres, or a 14 percent decline, following the removal of the subsidy.
“A detailed 10-year trend analysis (2014–2023) shows that the highest annual PMS importation into the country, 23.54 billion litres, was recorded in 2022, while the lowest, 16.88 billion litres, was recorded in 2017. A total of N15.87 trillion was claimed as under-recovery/price differentials between 2006 and 2023, with the highest amount, N4.714 trillion, recorded in 2022.”
Speaking at the report unveiling, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, assured stakeholders that the government would continue to grant NEITI the freedom to fulfill its mandate to the country and the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
Akume said:,“As the Chairman of the NEITI Board, I stand before you today to underscore the Federal Government’s respect for NEITI’s independence. While my role as Chairperson is a testament to the importance the government places on NEITI, it also signifies the commitment to ensure that NEITI operates independently, without interference, as mandated by the EITI standard. It is our duty to safeguard this independence with great care and diligence, ensuring that NEITI can operate free from undue influence.”
On his part, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Olanipekun Olukayode promised to use the latest report to ensure that the government recovers all outstanding revenues from the companies.
The Chairman announced that from NEITI’s past reports, EFCC recently recovered and remitted to the Federal Government coffers over N1 billion.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, explained that the preparation of the report followed a meticulous and transparent process in line with global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative standards.
“A rigorous, multi-stakeholder approach was adopted, involving extensive collaboration with government agencies, extractive companies, civil society, and indigenous consultants. We ensured that all data was collected, validated, and reconciled in an open and transparent manner,” he stated.
