The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, has denied the allegation of missing 107million barrel of crude oil in the country.
Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director of the company, denied the allegation at the resumed investigative hearing on the report of the Auditor General, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Account
He said:“I believe that this parliament represents all Nigerians collectively. We can have individual differences, but we all represent the interest of Nigerians. The image of Nigeria is very important.
Two weeks ago, it was in all the media that 107 million barrels of crude were stolen or diverted. You will not appreciate the evil of bad image this has created for our country.
“Our lending partners have called me that this is a wrong approach and that they will not lend to us without clarifying issues. Auditor General is here and we are in the same country. We are all serving this country. You can’t declare something like that without it having effect and if we don’t respond to this, it will be obvious that it is what is happening in our country.
“Nobody has stolen 107 million barrels of crude oil. If for any reason, it was not well captured by the Auditor General, it is a different issue. So, this company is hiding nothing from none and we will appear before you as directed next week. But have it at the back of your mind that we have nothing to hide,” Kyari maintained
Earlier, the House of Representatives on Tuesday told the NNPC Limited to stop shielding the heads of its various subsidiaries from investigation if it has nothing to hide from Nigerians.
Speaking, Rep. Oluwole Oke said the action of the NNPC in shielding its subsidiaries amount to hiding something from Nigerians.
He said the House was shying away from invoking the provisions of the constitution to issue warrant of arrest on the leadership of the subsidiaries who have refused to appear before parliament to answer questions arising from the AuGF report.
Reacting to the statement by the GMD that he will take responsibility for the actions of the subsidiaries, Oke said “with due respect, the parliament differs with you because we are guided by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Legislative Houses Privileges Act and our Rules.”
“Yes, you have submitted consolidated account. But the Auditor General who submitted his report to us conducted audit pursuant to section 85 of the constitution and audited the account of these subsidiaries, publish the report and submitted same to the parliament.
“The report specifically mentioned these subsidiaries and having done so, the parliament is duty bound to take the queries and observations as contained in the report. Aside this, parliament can also pursuant to the provisions of the constitution invite anybody to give evidence before this parliament.
“If a particular agency under your leadership is mentioned, we cannot shave their head in their absence. They have to be here. Yes, you have rendered your account which is before us. But these subsidiaries must appear before this parliament to answer the queries raised by the Auditor General for the Federation. They have to answer their father’s names.
“With due respect, the NNPC is not in a position to dictate to parliament how it conducts its business. We have to change the impression of Nigerians about NNPC. We have listen to the comments of some governors about NNPC and we must change the narrative by telling Nigerians that NNPC operates transparently.
“Except and except you have something to hide, then you can continue to shield these subsidiaries. But they must appear before Nigerians and tell them about the funds in their kitty. They have to come here and answer the queries about the abnormalities the Auditor General observed in their operations. This is our position.
“We don’t want to go through the process of invoking the necessary laws by issuing warrant of arrest. We believe that we can jaw jaw, that we can discuss because we are all serving Nigerians.
“These companies are your subsidiaries and if we are to go by your assertion that they are registered on their own under CAMA, then it further attest to the fact that they have to appear here by themselves. That is not even the issue, but that the Auditor General for the Federation specifically listed the names of these companies. That is our position. So, take a date when you are bringing them.
“Your purpose of coming today is to produce these subsidiaries because you wrote that these agencies are under you. That was why we asked you to bring the leadership of these subsidiaries. That is what we expected today.
“If they are here, they should introduce themselves and the Auditor General will be invited to read out the queries for them to answer because the queries were not directed to you in person. They were directed to these subsidiaries. We object to your position. They must appear here because this is their parliament. If they are not here, so be it. That is why we said you should give us a date to bring them,” chairman Oke ruled.
In his remarks, Group Managing Director of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari said “First, let me clarify an issue. NNPC has nothing to hide. We have nothing to hide from Nigerians. In view of that, we have published the same audited account that you have for Nigerians to see, read and comment on.”
“Those accounts are a complete reflection of all our transactions, including our subsidiary companies. So, we are hiding nothing from Nigerians.
“I agree with you that we can be more transparent. Can we do something different from this? Absolutely yes. Are we doing enough? Yes, we are doing more than enough. No National oil company in this world publishes its audited statement of account. There is no company that publishes its monthly report as we do.
“Therefore, I expect that you should congratulate us that we are doing more than expectations in terms of transparency and accountability. We owe this to Nigerians because it is their company and we sincerely believe that these companies are owned by the over 200 million Nigerians, we are accountable to them and we must be transparent by every means possible.
“But as we do this, we must also recognize that we are running a business on their behalf and this business has rules and responsibilities and part of it is to have report of this nature which the Auditor General endorses by law for them to deliberate on.