By Ezrel Tabiowo and Joshua Egbodo , Abuja
The Senate has directed its joint committee on Petroleum Down, Upstream and Finance to immediately probe the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), over alleged misappropriation of an estimated sum of $5.5billion (USD) since 2013.
The decision came on the heels of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, inaugurated the ad-hoc committee and saddled with the probe of alleged corruption, malpractices and the breach of due process in the award of Oil Prospecting License 245 called Malabu oil.
The Senate’s decision to probe the corporation was reached sequel to consideration of a motion moved by the Chairman Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Sen. Dino Melaye, at yesterday’s plenary.
Senator Melaye, while moving the motion, alleged that the diversion of oil revenue between the two agencies of government had continued unabated since 2013.
Throwing his weight behind the motion, the Leader of the Senate, Ali Ndume, who commended Senator Melaye for making such important information available to the upper chamber, decried that such level of corruption could go on in a country currently facing recession.
He said: “I support the motion. I want to emphasize that whenever the senate receives something like this we should know the seriousness we need to attach to it.
“You can imagine what 3.5 billion dollars will do to the economy in the face of recession.”
In a related development, Dogara said that it was instructive to note that OPL 245 has a long running history and has been subject of many investigations, hence the need to put finality to the matter.
The failure by previous administrations to take necessary steps to resolve the disputes associated with OPL 245, has attracted the searchlight of international anti-corruption and money laundering watchdogs which has portrayed Nigeria as unserious in its fight against corruption.
“It is with great pleasure that I welcome you all to this Public Hearing on the Investigation of Alleged Corruption, Malpractices, and Breach of Due Process in the Award of Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 (HR. 24/2016) pursuant to the Resolution of the House on the subject.
