NNPC Denies Delaying 2013 Budget

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said it is not in any way causing delays in the passage of the 2013 budget as recently claimed by members of the House of Representatives, explaining that it has entirely cooperated with the legislators in the budget debate processes.

Reacting to claims by the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumni Jibrin, who had asked Nigerians to hold the corporation responsible for any delay in the passing of the country’s 2013 budget, the General Manager Media Relations of NNPC, Dr. Omar Farouk, said that the corporation could not have been responsible for any delay in the passage of the 2013 budget by the national assembly.

Omar explained that the corporation had severally honoured invitations for appearance from various relevant committees of the national assembly, in which it had made presentations and clarifications on its crude oil production and revenue projection plans, adding that Jibrin’s claims were unfounded.

House Blames 2013 Budget Delay on NNPC

The House of Representatives has said that Nigerians should blame the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for any delay in the passing of the corporation’s 2013 budget. This was disclosed by the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumni Jibrin after the meeting of 60 revenue generating agencies.

According to him “NNPC has projected an oil production of 2.5 million barrels of oil per day. There is the need for NNPC to appear before the House Committee to explain how it intends to produce 2.5 million barrel of crude per day. We want to know the revenue expected from gas and the status of the Joint Ventures and other projections by the NNPC. Other revenue generating agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Services, the Customs Service and the Department of the Petroleum Resources (DPR) have appeared before the House Committee on Finance, but the NNPC is yet to respond despite several invitations to it”.

On the benchmark to be used on the budget, since the Senate has benchmarked the budget on $78 and the House of Representatives on $80, the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance said, “since there was a disagreement on the benchmark to be adopted, the matter has been referred to the National Assembly Conference on Finance and the leadership of the two houses of the National Assembly. We expect them to resolve the matter based on the legislative procedures.”