Panic as Senate probes NNPC’s alleged diversion of $1bn from NLNG dividend

The Senate has begun an investigation into the diversion of $1.05bn from the ‎Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas dividend to augment the shortfalls between the landing cost and pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol).

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Gas), Senator Bassey Akpan, raised a point of order at the plenary on Tuesday to urge the lawmakers to probe the ‎withdrawal and payments.

‎President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, ruled that the committee should go ahead with the probe.

Saraki had on Monday‎ said the upper chamber of the National Assembly would further probe the claims by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Baru, on how and why the corporation was diverting the dividends from the NLNG.

The Senate had set up an ad hoc committee chaired by the Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, to investigate an alleged $3.5bn account kept by NNPC for petrol subsidy payment.

Baru had, while appearing before the committee last week, said NNPC had only spent $1.05bn from the NLNG dividend account to defray the cost of “under-recovery” in the importation of fuel.

Details later…Punch