The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the last three years withheld and spent N3.7 trillion oil revenue without budgetary provision and approval.
Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, disclosed this to State House correspondent after the National Economic Council meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, a total of N8.1 trillion generated from the oil sales during the period ought to have been remitted to the Federation account.
But instead, the governor said only N4.3 trillion was remitted to the Federation Account.
He also disclosed that the former Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spent $2 billion from the Excess Crude Account between November last year and May this year without approval.
He said: “This is the first time we had a National Economic Council meeting in which under the instructions of the President, NNPC and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation was compelled to provide information in black and white on issues as it relates to the total sales of Nigeria crude from 2012 to May 2015. This never happened before.
“What we saw from those numbers, which I believe Nigerians are entitled to know, is that whereas the NNPC claimed to have earned about N8.1 trillion, what NNPC paid into the Federation Account between 2012 and May 2015 was N4.3 trillion and NNPC withheld and spent N3.7 trillion.
“The cost of running NNPC is much more than running the Federal Government.”
He said that $4.1 billion was in Excess Crude Account as at November 2014 while the Accountant General’s Office reported that the balance as at today was $2.1 billion.
To this end, he said that Okonjo-Iweala spent $2 billion from the account without any approval by NEC.
Four state governors have been selected into a committee to probe the accounts.
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