The upper chamber of the National Assembly said the transaction would be investigated. Speaking on the
development Tuesday in Abuja, Senate spokesman, Enyinnaya Abaribe, categorically stated that the chamber did not approve the loan for the corporation.
He said no agency of government could obtain loans without the authorisation of the legislature.
“Under the law, no government agency can borrow money without the approval of the National Assembly. We have to know if that was done first, but then the question to ask under the circumstance is, what happened to the N161 billion supplementary appropriation that was approved by the National Assembly for government to take care of the shortfall in the fuel subsidy budget, particularly to ensure steady supply of petroleum product during the yuletide?”
Also reacting, Chairman Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Magnus Abe, said there was no approval for the loan.
“As at this afternoon, there’s no record of the loan deal before us. We are still trying to confirm the loan from NNPC
. The committee read about the loan deal on the pages of newspapers like other Nigerians and we have had concerned Nigerians calling to ask whether the National Assembly approved the loan.
We have no record of such before us,” he said.
It was reported that the deal was concluded last year and that the NNPC had put up 15,000 barrels per day as collateral for the loan.
But there was no official reaction from the NNPC over its alleged borrowing of $1.5 billion to offset fuel import.
Besides, the President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Peter Esele, has urged the creation of an NNPC that would be run strictly as a business concern in line with the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that is before the National Assembly.
The Guardian learnt in Abuja Tuesday that the need to ensure that the refusal of most fuel marketers to import fuel as a result of subsidy regime audit did not lead to fuel shortage in the country influenced the decision of the management.
It was learnt that the NNPC’s move, which was purely a ‘business decision’ was arrived at with the backing of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. The minister is also the Board Chairman of the NNPC.
The $1.5 billion was borrowed to offset accumulated debts for petrol already supplied by some foreign importers.
It was further learnt that the decision was taken to ensure that the country does not suffer financial embarrassment in the international oil market.
A source at the NNPC said the decision was purely on business merit and that it did not require the approval of the National Assembly.
It was noted that since the loan was not obtained in the name of the Federal Government, there was no need to seek the approval of the National Assembly .
Explaining further, the source said the debt would be in NNPC’s books and not the Federal Government’s.
Speaking on the furore the loan was generating in Abuja , Esele stated that the PIB must create an NNPC that was insulated from government’s frequent interference.
He added: “We must ask ourselves what kind of NNPC we really want. We must strive to create an NNPC that would be run as a business concern. As it is today, there is too much interference from government be it executive or legislative. The way the NNPC is run today is not in our collective interest.”
The TUC president also flayed the borrowing of $1.5 billion to fund fuel importation saying, “this bogus amount is more than enough money to build us a new refinery. I just wonder why we run our country like this.”
Industry practitioners have also expressed worry about the return of unbridled fuel import regime.
An industry operator who spoke with The Guardian on condition of anonymity said: “I fear for this industry because politicians are back to their game again. They have started looking for slush money, which the industry has always brought. This is beginning to play out once again.
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