Nigeria’s House of Representatives’ ad hoc committee on recovery of outstanding debts owed by oil and gas companies has given the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd two weeks to defend its indebtedness to the federal government to the tune of N3trillion.
The committee, which approved the NNPC’s request for an extension of time at its investigative hearing in Abuja on Tuesday, also invited the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the federal ministry of finance, Budget and National Planning over the debts.
The House had in March 2022, begun the investigation based on the report of the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative.
While the NNPC and its subsidiaries are said to owe the federal government a total sum of N3trillion in crude oil sales and taxes, 77 oil companies operating in Nigeria owe N2.6trillion.
Chairman of the committee, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, decried that huge sums of money belonging to the government had been stacked in individual accounts, causing paucity of funds to finance the budget.
Onyejeocha stated that the committee would not tolerate ministries, departments and agencies undermining its efforts to recover public funds meant for the development of the nation.
She added that while people have continued to do business without paying taxes to the government, Nigeria has remained indebted to foreign lenders.
By Chidi Ekpewerechi
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