The blame game between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources about the N135 billion disbursement for the Nigeria Gas Expansion Programme infuriated senators on Thursday in the Committee on Gas Resources.
The benefiting oil and gas corporations were invited to testify before the Senate Committee last week.
The Nigeria Independent Petroleum Company, Plc (NIPCO), Hyde Engineering and Construction Company, Pinnacle Oil and Gas, Dangote Oil Refinery, Lee Engineering and Construction Company, Nova Gas, and nine more businesses are among the fifteen companies that the Senate has called.
According to checks, the CBN and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources started the intervention fund in 2021.
However, Mrs. Oluremi Komolafe, a representative of the Ministry of Petroleum, stated to the Senate Committee chaired by Senator Jarigbe Jarigbe at the investigative hearing that the Ministry was unaware of the intervention fund’s disbursement.
According to Ms. Komolafe, out of the 150 applications received, 69 companies recommended them, and 16 of those recommendations are currently being evaluated.
She said that the top bank was the only recipient of the list of suggested companies.
She insisted, “We wish to state that the Ministry did not process the list.”
Alhaji Sahaad, the CBN’s acting director of project finance, countered that the apex bank just offered instructions for how the loan would be distributed to the winning businesses. He stated that the commercial banks were in charge of the payout and that they need to be in charge of conducting due diligence.
“Banks bear the primary responsibility,” he stated. Should we submit a plan to the bank, they must do a thorough investigation into it. The payment was never made in conjunction with CBN.
“What we do is make sure they offer a fairly long term tenor and single digit interest.” Most of these properties have a 7–10 year lease.
“Our job is to make the loan possible.”
However, Senator Jimoh Ibrahim criticised the CBN Director’s submission, stating that N135 billion could not have left commercial banks’ safe deposit boxes without the CBN’s knowledge.
The Ministry of Finance and the CBN, according to Senator Hussaini Babangida, are operating against each other’s interests.
“This isn’t good enough; I am horrified that CBN and the Petroleum Ministry are working at cross purposes,” he said.
The Committee concluded that as some of the beneficiary companies received N15 billion and N20 billion, the banks had overreached their N10 billion loan ceiling.
The MPs also proved that businesses such as Pinnacle Oil and Gas and Dangote Refinery had misused the fund to finance their initiatives to build depots and refineries, respectively, in violation of the rules.
However, Benedict Ebalukhota, legal counsel for Lee Engineering, informed the Committee that the fund was utilised by the company for the gas project. Ebalukhota, who disclosed that the project’s location was in Ekpan-Warri, Delta State, stated that the project was 90% finished and should be commissioned the following year.
Subsequently, Senator Jarigbe, the Committee Chairman, announced that his team had decided to travel to the sites of the gas projects run by the various corporations.
“To confirm whether the intent of these funds is realised, we need to see these projects,” he stated. To find out if the projects fulfilled the government’s objectives, we must conduct an assessment, visit the site, and provide a report on our findings.
“We will visit the areas and conduct an on-the-spot appraisal of the various initiatives. Should the monies have been misappropriated, we will summon the anti-graft agency to investigate.
