By Franklin Adole
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has come under fresh scrutiny as the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee intensified its investigation into allegations that the oil giant, alongside the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other government-owned enterprises, failed to remit trillions of naira in operating surplus to the Federal Government.
The lawmakers on Tuesday ordered the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) to produce comprehensive records detailing outstanding remittances by the NNPCL, CBN and other government enterprises, including deductions made from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), refunds already processed and all outstanding balances.
The latest probe is aimed at establishing the actual revenues generated by the affected agencies, the operating surpluses declared and whether the Federal Government received its full statutory share.
Speaking during the investigative hearing, committee member Gboyega Isiaka questioned the transparency of the remittances, arguing that merely claiming compliance with statutory remittance obligations was insufficient.
“Considering our GDP, ours is one of the lowest on the continent, at about 16 per cent. Business entities are expected to return about 80 per cent of their operating surplus, while others remit between 20 and 50 per cent,” he said.
Isiaka insisted that the committee would examine whether the surpluses declared by the agencies accurately reflected the revenues generated from the assets under their control.
“It is not enough to say they remitted 80 per cent of their surpluses. What exactly is the surplus they are declaring? We need to examine that against the assets under their control, as well as the revenues they ought to have paid but have not,” he added.
Although officials disclosed during the hearing that the Central Bank alone allegedly owes the Federal Government ₦5.3 trillion in unremitted operating surplus, lawmakers made it clear that the investigation extends to the NNPCL and other revenue-generating government enterprises whose remittance obligations are also under review.
Director of Revenue and Investment at the OAGF, Makinde Mogaji, told the committee that despite previous recovery efforts, the CBN had yet to remit the outstanding amount.
“Early last year, the CBN was owing the Federal Government ₦5.3 trillion as operating surplus. Despite the efforts of the Public Accounts Committee to recover the money, it has not been paid,” Mogaji said.
Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, defended the government’s policy of making automatic deductions from agencies’ accounts, describing it as an effective revenue recovery mechanism.
According to him, the policy enabled the government to access funds due to the Federation in advance, although some agencies later challenged the deductions and obtained reversals.
He also acknowledged that the government had, on occasions, temporarily utilised funds belonging to certain agencies to meet pressing financial obligations, insisting that such transactions were treated as loans and were being refunded.
However, Committee Chairman Bamidele Salam faulted the practice, saying agencies including the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), and others had complained that the deductions crippled their statutory operations.
The committee consequently directed the Office of the Accountant-General to submit a full breakdown of all outstanding operating surpluses allegedly owed by the NNPCL, the CBN, and other government-owned enterprises, together with documentary evidence of deductions, refunds, and unpaid balances as the high-profile investigation gathers momentum.