Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Rabiu Umar.
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 over wide discrepancies with figures presented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
The committee consequently resolved to summon the heads of NMDPRA, NNPCL and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative for a joint meeting to reconcile the conflicting figures and establish the reasons for the discrepancies.
The decision followed the appearance of NMDPRA officials before the committee on Wednesday to respond to queries raised in NEITI’s 2021–2023 Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report over the volume of Premium Motor Spirit imported into the country.
The discrepancies showed that while NMDPRA recorded 3.29 billion litres of petrol imports in 2022 and 6.02 billion litres in 2023, NNPCL’s records put the figures at 6.27 billion litres and 3.88 billion litres, respectively.
The conflicting figures raised questions about the accuracy of the agencies’ records and prompted senators to demand a thorough investigation.
Representing the Chief Executive of NMDPRA, Rabiu Umar, a Deputy Director, Uzoamaka Ugwu-Ojobe, told the committee that the authority stood by its figures despite the discrepancies with NNPCL’s records.
She said, “We stand by 3.29 billion litres of PMS as volume imported in 2022 and 6.02 billion litres as volume imported in 2023 against 6.27 billion litres recorded by NNPCL in 2022 and 3.88 billion litres in 2023. The slight disparities are being looked into for possible reconciliation.”
However, the explanation drew objections from members of the committee, who argued that the differences were too substantial to be described as slight.
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) said the discrepancies, which exceeded 50 per cent in some comparisons, were disturbing and required urgent clarification.
He said, “The disparities in records of PMS importation between NMDPRA and NNPCL in 2022 and 2023 as stated in the NEITI Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report of 2021 to 2023 are too wide to be described as slight or being looked into without the seriousness required.”
Another member of the committee, Senator Dayo Faduyile (Ondo South), also expressed concern, saying the conflicting records raised suspicions about the accuracy of the figures submitted by the agencies.
Faduyile said the discrepancies left considerable room for questions about what might have gone wrong in the reporting of petrol imports.
Senator Anietan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North-East) called for a comprehensive investigation, warning that Nigerians must not be shortchanged through discrepancies in official records of petroleum imports.
He said, “Mr Chairman and very distinguished colleagues, these questionable records of volume of PMS importation by the two agencies must be thoroughly investigated to save Nigerians from being yearly shortchanged and expose those milking the country dry.”
Following the objections, the committee, chaired by Senator Hassan Dankwabo (Gombe North), rejected NMDPRA’s defence and resolved to summon the heads of the three agencies for a joint session.
Dankwabo said the meeting would seek explanations for the conflicting figures and establish the reasons for the discrepancies recorded in the NEITI audit.
He said, “In view of the unacceptability of presentations made by a representative of NMDPRA on queries raised against it in the NEITI Oil and Gas Audit Report covering 2021 to 2023, specifically on the volume of PMS imported within the years under review, this committee resolved to summon heads of NMDPRA, NNPCL and NEITI for reasons behind the wide disparities.”
The committee is expected to use the meeting to seek a reconciliation of the agencies’ records and determine whether the discrepancies resulted from differences in reporting or other irregularities requiring further investigation.