A former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has adjudged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) as the “most opaque oil company in the world”.
Sanusi, a former Emir of Kano, said the NNPCL failed to remit enough foreign exchange into the government coffers despite the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Calling for the audit of the NNPCL, the former CBN Governor stated that the company was not transparent with its spending and revenue, adding that the Ministry of Finance should know how much oil Nigeria produces daily, exports, and how the funds are spent.
He said this at the Bank Directors Summit organised by the Bank Directors Association of Nigeria in Abuja on Thursday, December 7, 2023.
Sanusi, who was the CBN Governor from June 2009 to February 2014, added that this was the issue he raised which led to his suspension as the governor of the apex bank.
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Sanusi said: “The exchange rate needs to be stabilised and we have to address the fundamental question, why is there no money coming in? Why is the NNPCL not able to bring in dollars? Am sorry this is the question that cost me my job and I will continue asking this question until NNPCL fixes it up or until I die. Where are the dollars? We need to shine a light on the NNPCL.
“The finance minister cannot tell you because he doesn’t have a monitoring system that reports to him. The finance minister can’t tell you how many barrels of petrol we produce and export. It is only the NNPCL that can give those figures. The finance ministry needs to know how much oil we produce daily, how much we sell, and where the money is going.
“We are no longer paying subsidies so where are the dollars? It was under recovery during the subsidy era and that has been stopped, so where is the money? This was the issue I raised for which I was suspended, well you can suspend me again.
“The NNPCL is the most opaque oil company in the world. When I was in the Central Bank for 15 years, they had not been audited. We have to follow the money from production to export to return, where is the money going? We paid N11 trillion in subsidy and there is no accountability up till now. The National Assembly called the NNPCL to bring the documents, but they refused.”
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