'$20.2bn missing from NNPC since 1999', lawyer alleges

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has alleged that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to remit over $20.2 billion since the return of democracy in 1999 to date.

He said that "Instead of piling up external loans the federal government should be compelled by the Nigerian people to embark on the immediate recovery and repatriation of hundreds of billions of dollars from the NNPC."

Falana stated this in Lagos on Wednesday, November 15, 2017, at  a National Seminar on Promoting Transparency and Accountability in the Recovery of Stolen Asset in Nigeria.

The event was organised by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) in collaboration with the Ford Foundation, USA.

Falana said, "Transparency and accountability are interconnected to the application of economic, political and administrative management of the affairs of a state. The exercise of these affairs is that they must be seen to be exercised by the citizens of a state. Where a government parastatal such as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is said to have failed to remit oil revenue to the tune of $20billion, issues of good transparency and governance becomes a crucial issue.

"The Federal Government has to re-focus its recovery of stolen assets by vigorously pursuing recovery of assets from multinational corporations and not just the countries that illegally keeping the looted wealth of the country. The recovery of our looted wealth should also be extended to the few Nigerians who have been indicted in the Panama and Paradise papers. The EFCC and the Federal Inland Revenue Service should recover appropriate taxes from the offshore companies set up by such individuals."

He called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to "comply with the order of the federal high court which has directed the federal government to account for the loot recovered since 1999."

 The Senior Advocate of Nigeria further said: "It is undoubtedly clear that the governments of western countries and the United Arab Emirates are not going to co-operate with Nigeria in the repatriation of the nation’s looted unless the Federal government is prepared to adopt appropriate diplomatic and legal measures.

"In addition, the labour unions and other civil society organizations in the affected countries have to be mobilized to mount pressure on their governments to return our looted wealth.

"Upon the inauguration of the Mohammadu Buhari administration the governments of the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland assured the federal government that stolen funds and assets stolen from Nigeria would be repatriated. Not only have these countries refused to cooperate with Nigeria they have also frustrated the efforts of the federal government to recover and repatriate such tainted funds and assets.

"In a display of sheer arrogance and hypocrisy in June last year the then British Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron described Nigeria as "a fantastically corrupt country." In his reaction to the embarrassing comment, President Buhari asked Mr. Cameron to return the stolen wealth of Nigeria in the United Kingdom.”

"The government of the United States has filed copious objections to the suit filed by Nigeria in Jersey for the recovery of over $3oo million of the Abacha loot. The gravamen of the objection is that the fund be released to the United States to manage on behalf of Nigeria.

"In the same vein, Switzerland has insisted that the sum of $321 million of the Abacha loot would not be repatriated to Nigeria unless the World Bank would be allowed to monitor the disbursement of the fund. Such patronizing attitudes of western governments which had cannot be justified having regard to the fact that they had connived with a few unpatriotic Nigerian public officials in the grand looting of the treasury of Nigeria.

"Transparency and accountability in political office imply that elected government officials are conscientious and accountable for their decisions and actions and imbibe integrity, selflessness and neutrality in order to ensure probity in service. Transparency and accountability in public services create confidence in the citizenry in terms of implementing governmental processes to promote the public good.

"Capital flight, illegal exportation of profits, tax evasion through shell companies, currency devaluation and dollarization of the economy are promoted by the Central Bank under the peripheral capitalist system operated by the federal government.  The point I am struggling to make is that the limited gains recorded by the Buhari administration in the fight against corruption are a tip of the iceberg view of the massive capital flight that is legitimized  by market forces."

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The Seminar was attended by Eva Kouka, Senior Program Officer Foundation, Linda Ochiel, Ford Foundation, Sonia Warner DFID, Osai Ojigho, Director Amnesty International Nigeria, Adeniyi Kayode, Open Government Partnership, Obono Oblia, Senior Assistant on Prosecution to President Muhammadu Buhari, Oluseun Onigbinde of BudgIT, among others.