Yemisi Izuora
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Gas, Senator Bassey Albert, has on Thursday in Abuja, clearly stated that the ongoing investigation of the application of $1.05billion Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividend to support the importation of petroleum products into the country has nothing to do with any missing funds, declaring that no such money was missing in the first place.
Senator Albert, who doubles as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Application of the NLNG Dividend, explained that the clarification became necessary due to sensational and misleading reports in some sections of the media.
He said the mandate of the Committee was to determine the instrument under which NNPC relied upon to affect the said withdrawal and subsequent application of the NLNG dividend to meet pressing national demand for fuel supply, noting that the Committee relies on NNPC to provide informed perspective on the issues.
The Senate Committee Chairman emphasized that the engagement with NNPC was to understand the rudiments of the account flow and also to discover how the Committee, working in harmony with NNPC, could make the NLNG dividend more effective and beneficial to the nation.
Responding, Mr. Isiaka Abdulrazaq, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of NNPC, who represent the corporation’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, pledged the willingness of the corporation to support the Committee in its assignment, saying that relevant documents have been supplied to the panel to enable it determine the veracity or otherwise of NNPC’s perspective.