The House of Representatives has ordered an investigation into the non-remittance of revenues to the federal government account by the National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Moving the motion at the plenary on Tuesday, Hon. Uduak Odudoh said Section 162(1) of the Constitution provides for “The Federation Account” in which all revenues collected by the government of the federation except such exempted therein are paid.
He explained that the said “Federation Account” belongs to the entire federation, while the federal government keeps the same in trust on behalf of three tiers of Government in Particular and Nigerians at large.”
Odudoh noted that the allocation of Revenue Act, prescribes the basis for the distribution of revenue accruing to the federation account between the Federal, State Governments and Local Government Areas in Nigeria.
He pointed out that the fate of the National Development largely depends on how transparent and accountable relevant government agencies and corporate entities are in the collation, remittance and distribution of revenues solely acquired.
Odudoh noted that Section 6 of the allocation of Revenue (Federation Account, e.t.c) Act, established the “Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC)” to among other functions, report annually to the National Assembly in respect of the function under the Act.
He stressed that the non-remittance of crude sales, royalties and taxes by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) into the Federation Account has been a recurring decimal and a sad narrative constituting a subject matter without opposing views.
Odudoh noted that FAAC had severally accused the NNPC of short-changing it by refusing to pay over N2 trillion to the Federation Account from crude sales, royalties and taxes;
He further explained that NNPC averred that the federal government owed it over four N2 trillion of subsidy payments, power debt and other sundry charges and therefore would not remit until the debts are recovered.
The lawmaker stressed that the non–remittance accusation and counter-accusation are tantamount to a calculated attempt to disrespect and downplay the collective intelligence of Nigerians;
Against this background, the House mandated the Committee of Finance to “investigate the non-remittance of revenues to the Federal Government Account by the National Petroleum Company Limited and the accusation by the federation account allocation committee when constituted.”