Reps order PPMC to tender proof of $245m payment for special products

• Probe Customs, MDAs, banks, over revenue abuses, unremitted N115b taxes, ASYCUDA, VAT on recharge cards
• To regulate telecoms industry services

The House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Oil and Gas yesterday gave the Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC) seven days to submit receipts of $245 million paid for products lifted by Duke Oil.

The committee is investigating revenue leakages in the oil and gas sector from January 2016 to January 2017.

Its Chairman, Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe (PDP, Cross River), gave the directive just as the panel denied the Head of Planning, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Folasade Onanuga, response to questions on behalf of the director who was absent.

The lawmakers insisted that the Director of DPR, Mordecai Ladan, should appear in person.

On allocation of products to Duke Oil and its level of remittances to government coffers, Jarigbe stated that the trading arm of the NNPC was the PPMC.

“Therefore, Duke Oil should not be an issue before this committee since it’s not known to any law of the parliament, this panel will deal with issues of evidence of payments on special products such as Fuel Oil, Naphtha and others, which the PPMC claimed have been made.

His argument came on the heels of attempts by the Managing Director of the PPMC, Umar Ajiya, who explained the difficulties the agency was facing in the reluctance of the trading firms such as Duke Oil to promptly remit government revenues.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday resolved to investigate the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over the handling of imports duty revenues, waivers and bonds on import duties collected between 2010 and 2017.

The lawmakers at the plenary presided by the Deputy Speaker, Sulaimon Yussuff Lasun, also adopted another motion resolving to probe the operations of Webb Fontaine Nigeria Limited in the NCS information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure between 2013 and 2017.

They are also looking into the violation of its automated system for customs data (ASYCUDA) time line agreement, rules of engagement and delay in the handover of its services to the NCS.

The House specifically mandated the James Abiodun Faleke-led committee on Customs and Excise to determine the nature and extent of abuse of the Customs pre-arrival assessment reports (PAAR) by importers and Customs officers to recover revenues due to the Federal Government that were not paid.