The huge sum of money found at a
residence in Ikoyi, Lagos state, was taken from Nigeria’s joint venture (JV)
cash call account at the American bank, JP Morgan Chase, according to the
report of the auditor-general of the federation seen by TheCable.
NNPC currently runs six JVs —
with Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Chevron
Nigeria Limited (CNL), Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPNU), Nigerian Agip
Oil Company Limited (NAOC), Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited (EPNL) and Texaco
Overseas Petroleum Company of Nigeria Unlimited (TOPCON).
Also, there was no official
documentation for the official release of $289,202,382 to the the National
Intelligence Agency (NIA) — which claimed the $43 million found at the
residence was the balance from the money it received for “cover projects”.
Beyond a request sent to
President Goodluck Jonathan by Ayodele Oke — who was the NIA director-general
at the time — the normal processes of
approval and authorisation for the release of government funds were not
followed.
In yet another revelation, the
CBN would normally credit NIA’s account at the apex bank, but it was instead
directed to release the money in cash to Oke, according to the audit report.
In April 2017, the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it had discovered $43 million, £27,000
and N23 million stashed away at a flat in Ikoyi after a tip-off from a whistle
blower.
Following reports that the monies
belonged to the NIA, TheCable subsequently reported that the agency collected
$289,202,382 in cash from the account of the National Petroleum Investment
Management Services (NAPIMS) at CBN in February 2015 after the postponement of
the general election.
NAPIMS is a subsidiary of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which manages the JV investments
of the national oil company.
We can now report that in
the 2015 annual report of the auditor-general for the federation on the
accounts of Nigeria, the auditor-general queried the “misapplication of joint
venture cash calls for other purposes”.
On pages 75-76 of the volume two
of the report, the auditor-general wrote: “During the
examination of the JVCC JP Morgan Chase Account and JVCC CBN Naira Account, it
was observed that payments with amounts totaling $292,094,405.82 and
N2,474,295,000.00 were made from the Joint Venture Cash call accounts for
purposes outside the objectives for which the funds were provided for and
thereby constituted misapplication of Federation Funds.
“These include: The payment in
“Cash” of a total of $289,202,382.00 (N56,972,869,254.00 at 2015 year end rate
of N197.00 to $1) to the Director-General, National Intelligence Agency. The
Director General sought the President’s approval for the release of a total of
$289,202,382.00 to the NIA for the procurement of 13 items of expenditure to
enable NIA respond to the nation’s mounting diverse and complex security
challenges.
“However, audit noted that there
was no evidence of the President’s approval to the request other than a minute
to the then Minister of Petroleum Resources seeking assistance from the NNPC
Security votes. It was not clear from records/documents examined the authority
that NNPC/NAPIMS relied on to disburse this fund.
“Audit noted that, of NNPC/NAPIMs
did not make the payment to an identifiable NIA official account, but rather
mandated the CBN to make the payment in Cash to the DG, in spite of
government’s e-payment policy and the huge sum involved. This was highly
irregular.
“Audit further noted that this
payment was not budgeted for meaning that it was extra-budgetary payment.
Also, it should be noted that an
amount of $2,892,023.82 was charged by CBN on the transaction as commission,
thereby making the total outlay on this transaction to $292,094,405.00.”
This revelation further provides
insight into the non-remittance of billions of dollars to the federation
account.
Oke has now been removed by
President Muhammadu Buhari.
culled: The Cable
How efcc take know de place?
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