Senate probes NNPC over $141m in private account

The Senate yesterday resolved to investigate the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to know how Brass Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, account worth $141 million allegedly ended in a private account domiciled with Keystone Bank.


The decision of the Senate was sequel to a Point of Order by Senator Dino Melaye, who begged that the Senate should as a matter of urgency, confirm the veracity of the alleged ‘monumental corruption’ in NNPC.

Brass LNG is registered as a Joint Venture (JV) with NNPC with a controlling share of 49.

Under the Nigerian law,  accounts of (JVs) like Brass LNG are required to be domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Melaye who asked the Senate to investigate how the account of Brass LNG worth $141 million was not kept with the CBN but lodged in a private account with Keystone Bank, said, “Mr. President it is a known fact that when you have a Joint Venture (JV), the account of such JV will be domicile with the CBN, but in this case that was not what happened.”

Melaye who claimed that the private account opened with Keystone Bank had no Bank Verification Number, BVN, and that large sums of monies had been withdrawn from the account, however put the last withdrawal from the account at $4 million leaving a balance of $137 million.

He said: “The last withdrawal from that account was to the tune of $4 million. Mr. President as I speak to you, the balance of that account as at today is $137 million.”

Senate subsequently deferred the matter to another legislative day.