The controversy of the missing $49.8bn oil money created national and international headlines for corruption in Nigeria in 2013 and 2014. However, several unfolding events after the saga proved the then central bank governor Sanusi Lamido may have been in a hurry to stamp accusations without thorough investigations. Today, we take a look at a report by ADETUTU FOLASADE-KOYI, Abuja published on Sun News Online ON DECEMBER 19, 2013 explaining how Sanusi apologized to Okonjo Iweala on the issue.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi yesterday told a reconciliation meeting of stakeholders, set up to resolve the controversy over the alleged missing $49.8 billion oil money that he was “misled.”
He told the stakeholders’ meeting held in Abuja that he was misled by the Reserve Department of the CBN.
In fact, Sanusi reportedly apologized to the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the advertised mix-up contained in his letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, sources at the meeting said.
At the parley attended by officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Department of Petroleum Resources(DPR) and Ministry of Finance, the CBN governor reportedly recanted contents of his earlier allegation that a whopping $49.8 billion was missing from the Federation Account, having been unremitted by the NNPC as crude oil sales.
The meeting, which ended at 1.30am yesterday, was said to have reconciled all issues relating to the alleged missing money. Sources at the meeting said the CBN presentation was nothing different from the contents of the letter already published in the media. It was confirmed that after it was established that the CBN has no other information to add to what was contained in the letter sent to the President, the parley then turned to the NNPC to clarify issues.
Submissions by the NNPC immediately justified that it made necessary payments to the CBN.
The presentation by the NNPC indicated that contrary to the contents of the letter by Sanusi, there are other agencies of government, which collect oil revenue. Its officials stated that the CBN can only announce that a certain amount was missing after it has checked the amount paid in by all relevant agencies.
“At the end of the presentation by the NNPC, the CBN governor immediately clarified that he was misled by the Reserve Department of the apex bank which he said did not give him a full view of all the revenue streams to the Federation Account.. He embraced and apologized to the Minister of Finance for the mix-up,” said the source.
Meanwhile, appearing before the Senate Committee on Finance yesterday, Sanusi reiterated that the letter was not to indict the NNPC of corruption but that it was an invitation that was to lead to further investigation of the allegations raised in the document forwarded to the President.
He also recanted before senators that no oil money was missing from the Federation Account, adding that the only amount left to reconcile is just $12 billion.
His words: “I found it very unfortunate (that) it was leaked to the press and the answer is ‘Yes’, the CBN governor did send that letter with those contents. By way of those contents, the Central Bank and Finance Ministry and the government were very much concerned over the years at the very low rate of accretion to the reserves in spite of very high level of oil prices and in particular, depletion of excess crude account in spite of what seems to be very high level of oil sales.
“Now in investigation and trying to understand where those leakages were, our attention was drawn to a huge difference between what appeared to be export of crude made by NNPC and amount repatriated into the crude equity account of the Federal Government.
“What I would like to do is, given the progress we have made, to request that we be given little more time to continue with this process and come back with the final position that is a common position among us if the committee will so grant us…”, Sanusi prayed.
But the Finance Minister insisted before the Senate committee that the only money left to reconcile the accounts is $10.8 billion. “I just wanted to add that we found about $10.8 billion. He mentioned $12billion,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
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