Senate Rejects NMDPRA’s Petrol Import Figures Over Discrepancies With NNPC

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has rejected the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s (NMDPRA) records of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) imports for 2022 and 2023 over significant discrepancies with figures presented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

The committee described the differences as unacceptable and suspicious, resolving to summon the heads of NMDPRA, NNPC and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to reconcile the figures.

The discrepancies emerged during a hearing on queries raised in the NEITI Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report covering 2021 to 2023.

Defending the authority’s records, Deputy Director Uzoamaka Ugwu-Ojobe, who represented the NMDPRA chief executive, said Nigeria imported 3.29 billion litres of petrol in 2022 and 6.02 billion litres in 2023.

However, the NNPC’s figures showed that 6.27 billion litres were imported in 2022 and 3.88 billion litres in 2023.

Mrs Ugwu-Ojobe described the differences as slight, adding that reconciliation was ongoing, but lawmakers rejected the explanation.

On his part, Mr Abdul Ningi, representing Bauchi Central, said a discrepancy of more than 50 per cent could not be considered slight, describing the differences as disturbing and suspicious.

Similarly, Mr Dayo Faduyile, representing Ondo South, said the figures raised concerns about possible foul play, while Senator Anietie Bassey, representing Akwa Ibom North East, called for a thorough investigation to ensure Nigerians were not shortchanged.

The committee chairman, Mr Hassan Dankwabo, representing Gombe North, described the authority’s defence as unacceptable and announced plans to summon the three agencies for a joint meeting.

He said the meeting would seek to reconcile the records or uncover possible fraud.