The House of Representatives’ Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has disclosed N32,151,775,466.87 revenue leakages at the document submitted by the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on revenue generated for Federal Government between 2015 to 2022.
The committee headed by Bamidele Salam expressed concerns over the revenue leakages and non-compliance with standard operating procedures.
The chairman said they discovered that N909,392,169.74 had been transferred directly to private accounts in Deposit Money Banks without adhering to TSA protocols.
He said further investigation also highlighted significant discrepancies, including N15,476,269,397.10 in transactions listed in Remita that were absent from the NUPRC data set, and N6,332,212,384.25 in transactions from the NUPRC data set that did not appear in Remita.
According to him, there were notable value discrepancies in transactions between Remita and NUPRC, with N388,103,353.31 reported lower and N909,392,169.74 reported higher in Remita.
Consequently, the committee unanimously ordered Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC, along with other officials, to appear before them next Monday to explain the discovered infractions.
It will be recalled that the House Public Accounts Committee has stepped up its oversight activities in recent months, quizzing chief executives of ministries, departments and agencies, especially over queries arising from the annual reports from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation.
Last Thursday, the committee summoned the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works, Mr. Yakubu Adam Kofarmata, to answer questions over alleged abandonment of a federal road construction project in Kaduna state, valued at N1,461bn.
The 115 kilometre road contract, which was awarded to Jam-Jam Dynamic Platform Ltd on October 5, 2022, was to be completed within one year.
The committee expressed disappointment at the attitude of the permanent secretary, whom they accused of treating their invitations with levity.
The committee has threatened that if the permanent secretary fails to honour the invitation by next Tuesday, a warrant of arrest will be issued against him.
