NNPC: No whistle-blower will get 5% of funds

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has vowed that none of its funds in a commercial bank will be subjected to the payment of five per cent to any whistle-blower.

Hinting at a possible move by a whistle-blower to claim five per cent of funds allegedly stashed and recovered from secret accounts held by the NNPC, the corporation vowed to resist such an attempt because its accounts had been known by government officials.

In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Friday, the Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr Ndu Ughamadu, said the Presidency as well as the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation was aware of its funds that had not yet been remitted to the Treasury Single Account.

Ughamadu denied trending report alleging that the Nigerian Police recovered $470.5m and N8bn NNPC funds hidden in commercial banks.

While confirming that a few commercial banks had yet to complete remittance of dollar deposits to the TSA, Ughamadu said that the corporation had no funds hidden in any commercial bank as the Presidency, OAGF and the Central Bank of Nigeria were fully aware of and were receiving periodic status reports on balances yet to be remitted to TSA by commercial banks.

He said, “Following TSA implementation, the corporation had made a report to the Presidency on the failure of some commercial banks to complete transfer of US dollar deposits and a presidential directive was issued for the CBN to ensure that the funds were completely transferred to the corporation’s TSA dollars.

“Most of the commercial banks have since complied with the presidential directive and completed transfer to the corporation’s TSA in dollars, including the reported $470.5m.

“Consequently, the NNPC’s record of the dollar funds yet to be transferred by a few commercial banks cannot reflect the said recovery.

“While the CBN executes the presidential directive to ensure complete transfer of dollar funds to the corporation’s CBN TSA, it is pertinent to reiterate our earlier position that the NNPC will resist every attempt to subject these funds, which have been in the full view of the government, to five per cent whistle-blowing fees as this would be unreasonable and a sheer waste of public funds.”

On the purported recovery of N8bn by the police, the corporation said it was not aware of any change in the subsisting presidential directive to the effect that all of the dollar balances must be transferred to the NNPC’s CBN Treasury Single Account in dollars.

In addition, it stated that no such fund had been deposited into the corporation’s CBN Treasury Single Account.

The NNPC added that as an entity with fiduciary responsibility to the government and people of Nigeria, its commitment to transparency and accountability remained unwavering.