Senate
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has rejected the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority's records of petrol imports for 2022 and 2023, citing wide discrepancies with figures supplied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, and resolved to summon the heads of NMDPRA, NNPCL and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative to reconcile the conflicting records. Premium Times, Punch, Vanguard and The Nation reported the decision taken at Wednesday's session.
What are the conflicting figures?
Representing NMDPRA's chief executive, deputy director Uzoamaka Ugwu-Ojobe told the committee the agency recorded 3.29 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit imports in 2022 and 6.02 billion litres in 2023. NNPCL's records show 6.27 billion litres for 2022 and 3.88 billion litres for 2023. The two sets of figures for the same trade differ by more than 50 per cent in some comparisons, numbers lawmakers described as too wide to wave away.
Why did the committee reject the explanation?
Committee chairman Senator Ahmed Wadada Dankwambo, a former Accountant-General of the Federation, said NMDPRA's presentation on queries raised in the NEITI Oil and Gas Audit Report covering 2021 to 2023 was unacceptable. "In view of the unacceptability of presentations made by the representative of NMDPRA ... this committee resolved to summon the heads of NMDPRA, NNPCL and NEITI for reasons behind the wide disparities," he said, according to Premium Times.
What are lawmakers saying about the scale of the gap?
Senator Abdul Ningi of Bauchi Central faulted the description of the differences as slight, arguing that variations of such magnitude demanded a more serious response. Senator Aniekan Bassey of Akwa Ibom North-East called for a thorough investigation to establish the reasons for the discrepancies. Punch quoted Dankwambo saying the questionable records must be thoroughly investigated to save Nigerians from being yearly shortchanged.
Why does this matter for Nigerians?
Petrol import volumes sit at the heart of subsidies, forex demand and pump prices, so unreconciled records between the regulator and the national oil company raise basic accountability questions about who imported what, at what cost, and who benefited. The joint meeting of the three agency heads will be watched closely, particularly as Nigeria's deregulated downstream sector depends on accurate import data.
FAQ
Q: Which agencies were summoned?
A: The heads of NMDPRA, NNPCL and NEITI, for a joint meeting to reconcile the records.
Q: What triggered the summons?
A: Discrepancies in the NEITI Oil and Gas Audit Report 2021-2023 over petrol import volumes for 2022 and 2023.
Q: How large is the gap?
A: NMDPRA recorded 3.29 billion litres in 2022 and 6.02 billion litres in 2023, against NNPCL's 6.27 billion and 3.88 billion litres respectively.
Sources: Premium Times, Punch, Vanguard, The Nation, Peoples Gazette
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