The Post-Mortem Sub-Committee of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has queried the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over some missing invoices and discrepancies in sales recorded on Forcadoes Condensate for July. The discrepancies, it was gathered, occurred when Mr. Funsho Kupolokun was the Group Managing Director of the corporation.

Forcados condensate involves some elements of crude oil, which are distillated from associated gas captured from crude oil produced in the Niger Delta. The Forcadoes condensate, which is also exported by the NNPC, does not form part of Nigeria’s OPEC quota of 2.5 million barrels per day. The report of the FAAC Post-Mortem Sub-Committee, which was released yesterday in Abuja, said the sub-committee expressed concern over claims for payment of subsidy by NNPC, independent marketers and Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

"The subcommittee discussed discrepancies in the crude oil figure lifted by the NNPC and the Department for Petroleum Resources (DPR) and a final report is being expected."NNPC was requested to account for some missing invoices and their corresponding volume and value that were sold on Forcados condensate. "The Subcommittee members observed with concern the situation where the NNPC, PPPRA and independent marketers were all requesting for payment in respect of subsidy, and agreed that PPPRA should attend its next meeting for the purposes of making clarification on the matter," it stated. The Accountant General of the Federation, Mr Ibrahim Dankwambo, had on Tuesday at the end of the FAAC meeting told journalists that N18.8 billion was paid to oil marketers between January 2006 and March 2007 as subsidy due to the high landing cost of fuel imported into the country.

About N17.1 billion was paid to the marketers between January and December 2006; N1.7 billion was paid in the first quarter of this year. The AGF explained that the money was paid from the Petroleum Support Fund, jointly funded by the Federal and State Governments. Besides discrepancies in crude oil volume and value by NNPC, the FAAC Post-Mortem Sub-Committee report also disclosed that it deliberated on signature bonus."Members sought the explanations for, and were properly educated on the modus operandi on the subject of signature bonus," the report stated.

The subcommittee invited a representative of the Budget Office of the Federation to brief members on how targets were set for the revenue generating agencies, such as NNPC, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Nigeria Customs Service and the Department for Petroleum Resources. "Further discussion on the matter is expected to continue at the September meeting of the sub-committee," the report added.