By Energy Worth
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has expressed the lawmakers’ determination to uncover all alleged frauds in the application of N10.08 trillion (about $30 billion) by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC).
Speaking at the opening of a public hearing by the House’s ad-hoc committee on alleged “Constitutional Breaches, Impunity and other Infractions of the NDPHC, and the Need to Ensure Probity and Statutory Oversight Functions,” yesterday, Dogara also expressed concerns that about half of the funds so expended were reportedly sourced from the Excess Crude Account, which is joint treasure of Nigeria’s three tiers of government.
“From the information made available to the National Assembly, the NDPHC Ltd has since 2005 invested over US$30 billion, over half of which was sourced from the Excess Crude Account belonging to the three tiers of government, while the balance consists of funds from other investors.
“As a limited liability company, the operations, management and accounting procedures of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited is subject to the overriding provisions of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in general, and the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) in particular.
“However, the available information is that the company has failed to comply with very serious and important provisions of the law, such that the very essence of the company, and by extension the NIPP, is seriously threatened.
“Furthermore, the NDPHC does not submit its annual budget and project plans for appropriation by the National Assembly, while, as alleged, it also generates Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) in trillions of Naira, which cannot be determined because it is neither divulged nor paid into the coffers of the government, but rather expended by the company without legislative approval or input from the other tiers of government.
“Most importantly, information available from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) conveys very disturbing signals that the trillions of Naira purportedly invested into the NIPP by the federal, the 36 states and the 774 local governments have not been securitised as only N2billion is said to be registered as shares in the CAC for the three tiers of government,” Dogara said.
