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‘NUPRC cannot bear indictment in audit report’

The Nigeria Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has reacted to an audit report from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAuGF) which indicted the Nigerian Customs Service and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) now NUPRC, for non-remittance into the Federation Account.

The Commission, in a statement signed by its Head, Public Affairs and Corporate Communications, NUPRC, Olaide Shonola, said the Commission cannot be held accountable for “vicarious indictment for a process outside its domain,” as it does not receive and is not in a position to fail or refuse remittance. The Commission also noted that the said audit report is for the Year 2020- a period the Commission was not in existence.

“The NUPRC is a creation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021 and was inaugurated in October 2021. It is a regulatory body and not directly involved in operational activities. It is therefore wrong to link NUPRC by whatever definition to a report of 2020. It is also wrong to claim that NUPRC did not remit funds it never received.

“Funds, including royalties, received by licensees (all operators, NNPCL inclusive) are meant to be remitted directly to the Federation Account. It does not pass through NUPRC. They are responsible for receiving and remitting funds from oil and gas sector operations to the designated accounts,” the statement read.

Shonola, in the statement, further explained that though the NUPRC as a regulator subsequently made efforts for the licensees to remit all outstanding funds in their custody to the Federation Account, but “the reasons for neglect, failure or refusal to do so are directly within their respective purview. It is therefore an act of mischief to lay the fault on NUPRC or blame the Commission for not remitting funds it never received.”

It would be recalled that OAuGF, in its report indicted the now defunct DPR and the NCS for non-remittance of several billions of naira into the federation accounts for the 2020 financial year.

 “The sum of N151.121billion was deducted by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from the oil royalty assessed by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) now Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for 2020. The deductions by NNPC were purportedly for handling government priority projects, strategic holding costs, crude oil, and product losses among others,” the report said.

It said there was no evidence to show details of the priority projects and approval by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), adding that the deductions were made before remittance to the former DPR.