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The Joint Senate Committee on Gas, Petroleum Upstream and Downstream on Thursday accused the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPTIMS) of failing to account for the sum of $246m out of the $446 million given to it in 2016 for gas infrastructure by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The Joint Committee, at a hearing on Thursday said that the funds given to NAPTIMs as balance of the money set aside from the 2016 budget of the NNPC for gas infrastructure has not been accounted for even though the organisation only expended $132 million.
The Senate Committee insisted that while the NNPC had released the sum of $446 million to NAPTIMS for the development of gas infrastructure in 2016, only $132 million was expended. Managing Director of NAPTIMS, Dafe Sejebor who appeared before the Senate joint committee for the 2017 budget defence was confronted with the details but could not immediately supply details.
The Committee therefore asked NAPTIMS boss to provide details of the outstanding amount by next sitting. Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas Resources, Albert Bassey Akpan, accused the company of unilaterally moving funds from one budgetary subhead to the other, adding that only the National Assembly has the constitutional power to vire funds from one subhead to another.
“It is wrong for the company to have moved funds meant for gas infrastructure projects to another subhead,” he said.
He also accused the company of abuse of due process in its presentation of its 2016 budget performance.
He stated that a budgetary balance of $1.8 billion was carried over from 2015 to 2016, while the sum of $3.8 billion was provided for in 2016 adding that only $4.2 billion was spent of the entire sums, leaving a balance of $422 million.
Of that balance, the Chairman said only $318 million has been spent on gas infrastructure projects. MD of NAPTIMS, however said that the budgetary balance was used to settle outstanding joint venture commitments. He made strenuous efforts to convince the Committee but he was asked to furnish the lawmakers with details of shortfalls of funds allocated for gas infrastructure projects so far.
The Committee announced that in line with the decision of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu to ensure cost efficiency in the sector, the committee would only allocate $12 billion to the Gas Industrial park in 2017 while it will not allocate any budgetary funds to the Brass LNG.
