A Joint Committee set up by the Senate to investigate the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Joint Venture Cash Call obligations from 2011 to 2015 has swung into action.
This is sequel to the failure of the Corporation to meet its Joint Venture Cash Call obligations put at over $7 billion.
The investigations is coming on the heels of the debate and adoption of a motion in April on the urgent need for effective implementation of the Joint Venture Cash Calls obligations by NNPC in accordance with various Appropriation Acts of the National Assembly and pursuant to Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
The Joint committee comprising of Committees on Gas Resources, Petroleum Upstream, Finance and Appropriations has already requested organisations and the general public to submit written memoranda before the end of July 2016 on the operations of NNPC Joint Venture Cash Call obligations from 2011 to 2015.
The committee, chaired by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas Resources, Bassey Akpan is expected to hold an investigative hearing on the matter.
Some of the organisations expected to submit memoranda at the investigative hearing include the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Federal Ministry of Finance and the Petroleum Club, Forum of State Commissioners of Finance, oil and gas industry stakeholders among others.
A statement by Victor Effik Media Adviser to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas Resources, revealed that the Joint Committee had in its inaugural meeting last month mapped out the scope and framework for the investigations.
