The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has denied Muhammadu Buhari’s allegation that the corporation keeps two accounts and asked the former head of state to confirm rumours that $2.8bn was missing when he was minister of petroleum in 1977.
Buhari, in his acceptance speech after being nominated the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday, had said the NNPC maintains two different accounts ─ the one for the public and the other for insiders.
In a statement issued on Friday by Ohi Alegbe, NNPC’s group general manager for group public affairs, the corporation accused Buhari of peddling false information.
He said: “It is sad that General Buhari, one of the founding fathers of the NNPC who himself has tasted of the virulent but false allegations deliberately concocted to cast the Corporation and the public sector management of the nation’s oil and gas industry in bad light, would be the one to allege that NNPC runs two sets of account books ‘one for public consumption and another for insiders’.
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“We consider General Buhari’s allegation in bad taste as it is nothing but a deliberate political mischief calculated to cast the Corporation in opprobrium all in a bid to shore up his political capital.
“We find it difficult to understand how a former Head of State who has also served as Minister of Petroleum Resources could believe that NNPC keeps two sets of account books to perpetrate fraud, knowing that NNPC is the most audited and scrutinized agency in the country.
“In the past one year alone, the Corporation has had its books scrutinized and audited by the Senate Committee on Finance and an external auditor, PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC). Is it possible for the accounting discrepancies insinuated by General Buhari to escape the attention of such internationally acclaimed auditors? And in any case, why would an alleged fraudulent Corporation keep two sets of accounting books knowing that such could be used as evidence against it?
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“We hereby state emphatically that NNPC neither keeps two sets of account books nor is aware of the existence of such as the Corporation is run in line with international best practice.”
In 1977, the military head of state, Lt. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, set up a crude oil sales tribunal to investigate the operations of the Nigerian National Oil Company (NNOC, which metamorphosed into NNPC same year).
The tribunal found out that in three years, NNOC had failed to collect its equity share of oil produced by Shell, Mobil and Gulf.
As a joint venture partner, NNOC was entitled to 182.95 million barrels of oil production. But NNOC did not find buyers for its own share, thereby losing a potential income of $2.8 billion.
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But it was instead reported by the media that $2.8 billion was missing.
20 comments
No wahala. We will confirm after May 29 2015. But I will also advise NNPC management not to dabble into this politics .
I said it! This website is run by the APC. So you are now trying to launder Buhari’s image? You are trying in vain to absolve him of the fraud that occurred under his watch as the petroleum minister.
let agree it was not sold, my question now is, what then happened to the crude oil after then?
The crude spilled into the ocean and was swept away by tides.
Na waooo may God help us.
sure,we will do d investigation after 29 may 15.
This ‘mr clean’ called bbuhari will tell nigerians what happened to the 2.8$billion dolars oil money before asking them to make him president again. If the NNOC did not find market for that oil where did the oil eventually end up. did buhari allow it to simply flow into the Atlantic ocean??. “mr clean indeed’ indeed. and what happened to the okigbo report that found that the oil money was indeed missing but subsequently went viral
You are dumb and uneducated. Simple explanation, you Cant understand. No oil money Was missing but We simply did not colkect our own share of the production sharing contract in jul valued at 2.8bn. Buhari himself set up the painel for the benefit of nigerians. He should be commended, not castigated.
NNPC should be asked whether they eventually recovered our share of the psc, not buhari who did a patriotic duty by exposing the leakage.
Cheap blackmail. I will still vote for Buhari. This is chicken change compare d to what deziani has stolen
@andason, pls reread the article and comprehend it first. Even the NNPC didn’t claimed that GMB had stolen a penny, instead, it clearly stated that, Nigeria couldn’t found market to sell their share of the oil.
Even GEJ knows the integrity of Buhari on corruption is obvious and can’t be questioned.
Tboy you are right. This so called PDP are so corrupt and useless Set of thief. It now they are taking of one missing money when buhari was minister. This is set up all just to stain his white garment. This so call GEJ, is an asshole who steals the nation wealth and even use the present petroleum minister as his close thief thief padi… Has this so called NNPC give account on all the money they said they paid to the CBN and the missing money Sanusi talk of. MY FELLOW NIGERIANS IT RIGHT TO FOR CHANCE. THIS PRESENT FEDERAL ADMINSTRATION HAS FAILED US. WHY GOODLUCK PROMISING NIGERIANS THAT HE WOULD NOT FAILED AGAIN IN 2015. HE IS A LAIR AND UNTRUST RULER BECAUSE I DO NOT REGARD HIM AS A LEADER.
If it was about unsold crude, how come the money was said to miss from a bank in UK
why is NNPC just waking up to remember that such amount was missing.Why the silence since all this years.Why the noise now.Nigerians are not stupid o.Lets open our eyes to see our common enemy.someone or a group of people are geting desperate
Ok in 1977 it was found out NNPC did find buyers for its share dats y it lost $2.8b, wat of the NNPC of 2014? Did it lost $20b bcuz it did not find buyers? Certainly not !
the truth is dat ds administration is d most corrupt govt nigerians av ever experience to d extend he even 4get his own people & where he com frm d nigerdelta but my pain is no goverment rmebr d oil producing community like my community agorogbeni in bayelsa state who is landlord to shell & d richest man in d community dos nt av #50m u jus hear 2.8b dollars……na waa ooo,ds country man no go die sooo.
All our passed leaders are corrupt. My concern now is why shud nigerians close eye 2 s“small“ thieves & make noise ova “big“ thieves. How can a man who stole $2.8billion in 1977 wen naira & dollar were almost equivalent b white washing himsef by shouting dat if nigeria dos not kill kwaroption, dat kwaroption will kill nigeria? Wat moral right has he 2 investgate oda leaders? Just lik GEORGE ORWELL put it; “ALL OUR PAST LEADERS ARE CORRUPT, but some are more corrupt dan odas. Now which of dem is justified?
I WONDER WHAT IS WRONG WITH MOST OF NIGERIANS. THEIR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS BAFFLES ME.
DOES IT MEAN THAT NIGERIANS OF TODAY DO NOT MAKE RESEARCH OR READ BOOKS?THAT SOMETHING HAPPENED BEFORE YOU WHERE BORN,IS THAT AN EXCUSE FOR LACK OF QUEST FOR INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE? FOR YOUR INFORMATION THE N N P C $2.8 BILLION SCANDAL OF 1977 UNDER GENERAL BUHARI IS REAL AND SOUND MINDS SHOULD RESEARCH ABOUT IT.CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA DOES NOT START WITH JONATHAN.A THIEF IS A THIEF EVEN IF YOU STOLE 100 YRS AGO AS LONG AS YOU ARE ALIVE YOU SHOULD RETURN WHAT YOU STOLE.A HONORABLE MAN SHOULD NOT SIT ON STOLEN THINGS AND STILL CLAIM HONORABLE.WE MUST STOP THIS TRIBAL THING OF INSULTING JONATHAN WHILE WE MAKE HERO OF OTHER THIEVES.ALL OUR PAST LEADERS ARE THIEVES INCLUDING THE PRESENT WHO BELONG TO THE PAST.
Word!
They are claiming that there were no buyers for their shares of the oil and thats how they lost $2.8bn. Who would be so dumb to believe that lie?