FG gets N34 trillion in 10 years

Thirty four trillion naira poured into the coffers of the Federal Government from taxes, sale of petroleum products and customs and excise duties in the past ten years, Minister of State for Finance Dr. Yerima Lawan Ngama said in Abuja yesterday.He was speaking before members of the Joint House of Representatives Committees on Finance, Petroleum Upstream and Downstream and Gas Resources investigating the deductions of N450.8 billion from the Federation Account by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC]. Ngama said the N34 trillion naira was remitted to the Federation Account by revenue generating agencies such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which remitted N15.395 trillion; NNPC which remitted N11.946 trillion; Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which remitted N3.879 trillion, and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) which remitted N2.627trillion between 2001 and September 2011 after the deduction of joint venture cash calls (JVC), subsidy and transfer to excess crude accounts.Ngama also supported a statement earlier made to the committee by Petroleum Minister Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, who said NNPC cannot be subjected to the National Assembly's usual legislative processes and appropriation because it operates like a company.'The difference between NNPC transfers and that of other revenue collecting agencies is that NNPC determines the amount to be transferred to Federation Account through its mandates. The other agencies are not required to submit any mandate before CBN transfers funds from their respective pool accounts to the federation account,' Ngama said.Mrs Alison-Madueke had said NNPC is not funded from the national budget and that it operates 'to a very high degree along the lines of a private corporation'.
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