Chairman of the committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, while presiding over a budget defence session with the Budget Office on Thursday, drew the attention of its Director General, Mr. Bright Okogwu, to the omissions in the revenue profile of the 2012-2015 Fiscal Framework.
Okogwu could not explain the actual revenue expected from NPDC and why it was not included in the revenue profile when asked by the committee to give details of the figures.
According to Okogwu, the NNPC is in a better position to explain the details of the revenues and should be invited to explain the details.
Makarfi said, “We are going to call NNPC to clarify the figures because we ought to know what NPDC earns and keeps at least for the purpose of disclosure.”
Okogwu however explained that the NNPC had an agreement with Federal Government predating the current administration where it was allowed to spend revenue accruals from NPDC to run its operation.
He said, “The understanding is that they need money to run the organisation since provision was not made for them in the annual budget.”
Senator Bukola Saraki, who is a member of the committee, wondered why the Ministry of Finance could not ensure that the earnings of the NPDC was captured in the revenue framework of the budget.
He said, “I think this idea contravenes the constitutional provision that requires that all revenue must be paid into government coffers.
“We must take a second look at this because we are looking for money everywhere and such a huge item that could be up to half a billion Dollars is not captured in the budget.”
Punch Online.
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