• As NEITI begs FG: Probe NLNG’s Loan Repayment To NNPC 

The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday assured Nigerians that the Federal Government would not disappoint the Niger Delta communities in the establishment of modular refineries, stressing that Government would operate on the basis of trust.

“We will engage them on the basis of trust; we must prove to them that we are trust-worthy”, Osinbajo indicated during the inter-ministerial meeting on Niger Delta, in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Highlighting the determination of President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision for enduring peace for oil producing communities, the Vice President also lauded the preparedness of the States within the region, to collaborate with the Federal Government, as well as the private sector, to make the modular refinery concept a credible panacea unemployment and illegal refineries in the region.

“We are saying there is a way out of violent agitation, but it is by creating opportunities and the environment where the people in the communities can benefit”,  the VP noted,  pointing out that other issues which included the Maritime University, update on contractors in the Niger Delta returning to site and amnesty were also receiving priority attention.

The inter-ministerial meeting was attended by the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Mr Kingsley Otuoro and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Usani; the Minister of State for Petroleum Resource, Dr Ibe Kachikwu and his counterpart in the Ministry of Environment, Malam Ibrahim Jibril.

Similarly, the Managing Director of NDDC, Mr Nsima Ekere, the D-G of NIMASA, Mr Dakuku Peterside and the head of the Amnesty Office, retired Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh, were also in attendance.

Osinbajo also met with a delegation from the Gbaramatu Kingdom accompanied by a group of U.S. investors,  who came under the aegis of the Kingdom’s Oil and Gas Producing Trust Fund, and deliberated on prospective investors’ interest in a Modular Refinery project within the community.

At the meeting, the Vice President noted that the modular refineries to be established should be profitable and realistic in order to address critical issues bordering on the development of the region on a sustainable basis, adding that Government was determined to address challenges in the Niger Delta in a comprehensive manner.

“There are several things that we are working on now on the modular refineries and what government’s own participation is all about.

“We are also trying to work out a template for implementing this decision on modular refineries.

“But we must also structure this in a way that works for business or structure it in a way that is realistic and works, otherwise it will not last.

“It is a business proposition first and foremost; it must make sense”, he observed further, stressing Government’s determination to ensure a level playing field where parties could “look at how we deal with the issues concerning the Niger Delta as enshrined in our new vision for the region.

“It is a long term commitment; that is why we are looking at projects that will benefit the people of the region and the country at large”, he said, praising the Gbaramatu community for taking the initiative to support government’s actualisation of a plan for the region.

Leader of the delegation and Bolowei of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Chief Wellington Okirika said the community was committed to the actualisation of the 20,000 barrels per day from the Gbaramatu Modular Refinery project, as the project would ensure enduring peace and economic stability in the region.

In the meantime, The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called on the Federal Government to probe the NLNG utilisation of dividends and loan repayments to NNPC from 2000 – 2014, positing that there could be something fishy with over $14m.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio, indicated this on Thursday, in a statement signed by its spokesman, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji,, urging the Federal Government to institute an independent investigation into NLNG dividends to NNPC from 2000 to 2014, amounting to $15.82 billion.

“Between January 2012 and July 2013, total revenue for domestic crude sales was $28.2 billion but NNPC only remitted $14.54 billion’’, the statement highlighted, maintaining that “since the Federation’s shareholding in NLNG is held through NNPC, dividends are paid to NNPC, which should remit same to the Federation.

“However, NEITI’s audits have revealed that until 2015, NNPC failed to remit the interests and dividends from NLNG to the Federation Account,’’ he said.

He said that the total outstanding dividends and loan repayments by NLNG to NNPC not remitted to the Federation account stood at over $15.8billion.

Adio said the payments were traced to NNPC accounts by its independent auditors but there was no trace of its remittance to the Federation Account as required by the Constitution.

On domestic crude allocation and management, Adio raised concerns that earnings from daily allocation of 445,000 barrels for domestic use have not been properly accounted for.

“First, the refineries have been operating at below full capacity for a long time and currently process less than 100,000 barrels per day.

“Between January 2015 and September 2016, NNPC lifted a total of 245.4 million barrels of crude oil for domestic use.

“Out of this total, only 24.7 million barrels were delivered to the refineries. This represents a mere 10.06 per cent of the total crude oil lifted for domestic use for that period.

“The remainder of this allocation was exported through a variety of channels: 64.8 million barrels or 26.4 per cent were exported directly; 97.6 million barrels or 39.77per cent were sold under the Offshore Processing Agreements (OPA).

“And 58.29 million barrels or 23.75 per cent were sold under the Direct Sales – Direct Purchase (DSDP) scheme,’’ Adio stated further, stressing that NEITI’s concern and complaints by other stakeholders about the inefficiency of these arrangements, especially the OPA, led to the discontinuation of the OPA in April 2016.

“NEITI audits have shown that earnings from transactions arising from domestic crude allocation have not been fully remitted to the country’s treasury.

“Between January 2012 and July 2013, total revenue for domestic crude sales was $28.2 billion but NNPC only remitted $14.54 billion’’, he concluded, emphasizing the need to adopt measures to recover over $14.5 million so far disclosed in its reports.