SHOCKER !!! GEJ Sold Oil Bloc For $1.85bn But Remitted Only $100m

As President Muhammadu Buhari hosts the head of the
leading global corruption watchdog Clare Short this
week, top on the agenda will be a probe of how Nigeria
allegedly remitted only $100m for the sale of oil blocks
on which the country was paid $1.85bn, credible
sources have revealed.
Clare Short, who is the Chair of the Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) arrived in the
country on Monday on a three-day working visit. She is
expected to hold talks with President Buhari on the
implementation of the independent reports of the
Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative
(NEITI).
The Meeting which is also expected to provide the
International Chair the platform to brief the President
on the importance of integrating the EITI principles in
his economic policy agenda as obtainable in resource
rich countries of the developed world, is also seen as a
global endorsement of President Buhari’s commitment
to good governance, transparency and accountability.
Buhari had listed the implementation of the findings
and recommendations of NEITI Audit Reports as a
priority within his administration’s 100 days in office.
The executive secretary of NEITI, Zainab Ahmed, had
said last week that over $7.5bn between 1999-2011
still needed to be recovered from oil and gas
companies in Nigeria.
“The amount represents clear cases of underpayments,
under-assessments of taxes, royalties, rents... which
have not been adequately addressed in the past,” she
said.
NEITI has suggested selling the state oil company’s
stakes in producing joint ventures to fix its budget
woes, a call echoed by many in the new administration,
as well as scrapping the expensive and graft-riddled
fuel subsidy.
The government relies on oil sales for the bulk of its
revenues but there has been little oversight of how
these are handled. Central bank governor Lamido
Sanusi was sacked by Goodluck Jonathan after he said
that up to $20bn in oil revenues between 2012 and
2013 had not been remitted to the government by the
state oil company - NNPC.
Buhari said he would re-examine this allegation.
Ahmed also said NEITI audits showed that some
$11.6bn of dividends between 1999 and 2012 from the
government’s investment in the Nigerian Liquefied
Natural Gas (NLNG) company were not remitted by the
state oil company.
“NNPC was unable to provide any evidence that the
funds were remitted to the federation as required by
law,” she said.
NNPC said the issue of reconciling accounts had been
raised at a previous Inter-Ministerial Task Team and
would be discussed this week. The team was designed
to implement NEITI’s findings.
NEITI has also said the sale of eight oilfields to
NNPC’s upstream arm in 2010-2011 under Jonathan
should be reviewed, as they were sold at $1.85 billion
of which only $100 million was remitted to the
federation account in February 2014.