Governors, NNPC top officials in crucial meeting after aborted FAAC meeting

Naijawapenews.blogspot.com

Apr 28, 2018 

Cross section of Nigerian governors at the council of state meeting [Photo credit: Femi Adesina's Facebook page]

The governors of the 36 states of the federation, or their 

representatives, were on Wednesday locked in a 

crucial meeting with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation 

(NNPC) top management to attempt to patch up the crisis that 

aborted the Federation Account Allocation Committee 

(FAAC) meeting for March.

Earlier in the day, Chairman, Finance Commissioners Forum of 

FAAC, Yunusa Mahmoud, told reporters the 

meeting of the committee scheduled to share the revenue for 

March had been cancelled.

Mr Mahmood, who is also the Nasarawa State Commissioner for 

Finance, said the cancellation of the 

meeting followed some “challenges” linked to poor revenue returns 

remitted by the NNPC.

“The meeting cannot hold because we have some challenges,” Mr 

Mahmood said. “The revenue figures we 

got for the month is far less than what we expected to be remitted 

by the NNPC.”

He expressed disappointment that the committee, made up of 

representatives of the 36 states and the 

Federal Capital Territory, would again be made to end it’s meeting 

without members’ share of the revenue for the second month 

running.

Last month, the meeting ended in a stalemate, as the committee 

opted not to share the amount remitted to 

the purse by the NNPC.The committee refused to approve the 

statutory allocations for the month following alleged discrepancies 

discovered in revenue figures presented by the 

NNPC.

Hours after the inconclusive meeting, the finance minister, who is 

also Chairman of FAAC, Kemi Adeosun, 

convened an emergency reconciliation meeting the following day to 

attempt to resolve the confusion.

The meeting, however, ended with a plea for the committee to 

agree to share the N647.39 billion that was 

available after an engagement with the state governors, to allow for 

the reconciliation of the over N100billion difference.

Since that meeting which involved the Accountant General of the 

Federation, Ahmed Idris, PREMIUM TIMES 

learnt similar meetings have been held with top management of 

the NNPC without much positive outcome.

There are no immediate indication when Wednesday’s cancelled 

FAAC meeting would be rescheduled. But, 

the anxiety in the states have reached boiling point, as most of 

them are said to be unsure where the money for their workers 

salaries for the month is going come from.

A top presidency source close to the venue of the high level meeting 

between the governors and top officials 

of the NNPC at the Presidential Villa said the agenda centred on 

how to raise enough revenue to bail out the situation.

“This is a very high level deliberation. Everyone understands what 

is at stake. Our expectation is that 

something good will come out of it. NNPC is duty bound to carry 

FAAC members along in its business. Anything short of 

transparency in its account rendition will always elicit questions,” 

Mr Mahmood said.

“There are processes in doing things. Some level of transparency is 

expected. When NNPC picks its figures, it 

should expect the figures it submit to be looked at and deliberated 

upon and ask questions if need be,” he noted.

The NNPC spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, did not answer several 

calls to his telephone on Wednesday night 

when this reporter sought to get his comment for this story. He 

equally did not respond to a text message sent to him on the same 

issue.

Suspected oil thieves abandon 1.8m litres of crude oil in Rivers

By naijawapenews.blogspot.com

27 April 2018   |   4:52 pmSuspected oil thieves took to their heels and abandoned about 1.8 million litres of crude oil believed to have been stolen from pipelines, the Nigerian Navy has said.The Executive Officer, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Capt. Victor Choji, showed the seized crude oil to newsmen on Friday in Onne, Rivers

 

Choji said that the abandoned petroleum product was stored inside a vessel, MT Anton, which anchored at Sam Bartholomew Waterways in Onne.“On Feb. 26 at about 5:50 hours, troops of NNS Pathfinder deployed for anti-crude oil and illegal bunkering patrols intercepted a vessel, MT Anton, at Sam Bartholomew Rivers.

“MT Anton’s crew members, sighting advancing naval patrol gunboats, abandoned the vessel about the time troops arrived,” he said.

The naval officer said that the vessel’s abandonment indicated progress in the fight against criminality in the nation’s maritime environment.

“Troops later boarded the vessel and found it laden with about 1,800 metric tonnes (1.8 million litres) of suspected stolen crude oil.
“The vessel has been in our custody undergoing preliminary investigation.
“We have also been waiting for someone to come forward and claim ownership of the large vessel,” he said.
Choji said that no individual or company had come to claim the vessel since it was seized by troops.
He said that information available to naval investigators had been sketchy and inadequate to determine whom the vessel was registered to or where it was registered.
According to him, the navy has since discovered that some oil thieves now change their identities to beat security checks.
“Some of the vessels have a way of changing and mutating their identities especially when they want to get involved in illegalities.
“It is interesting to us that owners of the vessel are willing to abandon an expensive asset like a vessel for fear of what will happen, if they are arrested.