The Federal Government has been able to recover
only N68.94bn out of the $2.6bn (N404.98bn) underpayments by operators in the
oil and gas sector, leaving a balance of N336.03bn yet to be recovered. The underpayments
were revealed in three audit reports for 1999-2004, 2005, and 2006-2008
conducted by the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative.
The Executive Secretary, NEITI, Mrs. Zainab
Ahmed, said at the release of the Solid Minerals Sector Audit Report 2007-2010
in Abuja that measures put in place by the organization in collaboration with
other government agencies had led to some recovery amounting to N68.94bn. The
Chairman, NEITI, Mr. Ledum Mitee, also said the nation lost N4.04bn in the
solid mineral sector between 2007 and 2010 due the use of outdated rates in the
calculation of royalty payments.
Ahmed said the three audit reports showed that
the Federation Account was boosted by $269bn (N41.89tn) between 1999 and 2008
through revenues from the oil and gas sector.
On the solid minerals sector, Mitee said the
audit commissioned by NEITI earlier in the year revealed a discrepancy between
what companies claimed they paid to the government and what government agencies
claimed they received.
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