Lawmakers Call for Forensic Audit of NNPCL over Discrepancies in Fuel Importation Between 2015 and 2023

•Insist no data on daily consumption of fuel

Udora Orizu in Abuja

The House of Representatives has called for the forensic audit of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in order to unravel discrepancies in the importation and supply petrol from 2015 to date.

According to the House ad-hoc committee on the volume of fuel consumed daily in the country, the audit would give clarity on the Direct Sale, Direct Purchase (DSDP) programme and the consortiums of DSDP operators.

The committee whose report was considered and adopted at plenary yesterday, found that there were no data to conclusively arrive at the daily consumption of petrol, hence records or information on the daily dispense at the various retail outlets/fueling stations were not readily available.

The ad-hoc committee chaired by Abdulkadir Sa’ad Abdullahi (APC, Sokoto), said it extracted information from the NNPCL submission in comparison with the Nigerian Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Navy (NN) and Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) relating to the crude oil lifted under the DSDP programme operated by the NNPCL within the period of Year 2016-2021.

The committee therefore found that the sum total of 974,550,000 Barrels (BBL) of crude was designated as the domestic quota for the year 2016-2021 available for the DSDP programme, from the record of NUPRC.

It also found that, “the total sum of crude lifted under the DSDP program within 2016-2021 from the record of NNPCL was 738,759,194 (BBL) while record from the NUPRC indicates a sum total of 733,260,525 (BBL), with a difference of 5,498,669 (BBL) when compared with the NNPCL record.

“The record from the NMDPRA indicates a sum total of 732,319,016 (BBL), with a difference of 6,440,178 (BBL) when compared with the NNPCL record.

“The record from the NN indicates a sum total of 989,562,195 (BBL), with 250,803,001 (BBL) in excess, when compared with the NNPCL record, and the record from the NCS indicates a sum total of 498,647,923.318 (BBL).”

The committee noted that the daily average of PMS supply within the years 2017 to 2022, as presented by NMDPRA was at variance with the other stakeholders such as the NNPCL.

On the storage of PMS the committee found that there were 242 depots approved for operations in Nigeria, 143 received fuel from 2017-2022, while six of them received the product within the period through they are not on the list of depots approved for operation in Nigeria.

The lawmakers said some of the depot owners were gradually closing down their investment, due to the harsh and unhealthy economic conditions under which, they were constrained to operate.

According to the committee, over 5,000 km network of pipeline connecting the federation, which was deemed to be the cheapest and the safest means of transporting or distributing petroleum products had been abandoned due to theft, vandalism and economic sabotage.

They noted that a truck distributing PMS conveys an average of 41,000 litres contrary to the regulated quantity of 33,000 liters, adding that the sum total of 66,703,905.72 liters estimated as the daily average supply of PMS in 2022 by NMDPRA, it will require an average  of 1,519,4 trucks moving between locations on a daily basis.

“There is delay in the supply of the PMS by the NNPC/PPMC after payment. The delay, consequently resulted into huge accumulated interest on the loan obtained from banks by depot owners.

“Indiscriminate offer of credit sales by NNPC/PPMC to selected depot owners, thereby creating unfair platform for competition; indiscriminate access to foreign exchange by selected marketers, while others are compelled to patronise the parallel market to obtain their forex in spite of the huge significant difference, thereby creating unhealthy rivalry in the industry,” the lawmakers alleged.