And It Don't Stop:::House probes $1.2bn oil bloc proceeds

House Probes $1.2bn Oil Bloc Proceeds
From Onwuka Nzeshi in Abuja, 07.03.2009

House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts yesterday raised an alarm that about $1.2 billion which accrued to the Federal Government in respect of the 2005 oil bloc bid round had not been remitted to the appropriate accounts and could not be traced.
It has therefore summoned the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Lamido Sanusi and Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Alhaji Mutaqah Darma, to appear before the committee next week to throw more light on the issue.
Chairman of the House Committee, Honourable Usman Adamu, who blew the whistle at the commencement of an investigative hearing, said the fund accrued from signature bonuses of oil bloc bid round was supposed to have been paid into a Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) reserve account but it was not.
Adamu alleged that the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo directed that the money should not be paid into PTDF account but that the money should be kept in a special account at the CBN.
There are however conflicting reports about the actual amount in the special account. Authorities at the CBN claimed yesterday that the amount was actually $1.07 billion and not $1.2 billion. Mr. Mohammed Nda, an official of the apex bank, disclosed that the shortfall occurred because some refunds were made to some firms that benefited from the oil bid round but later lost out when the awards were canceled and re-allocated to other investors.
Accountant General of the Federation, Ibrahim Dankwambo, also adopted the figure position of the CBN. Dankwambo represented by Mr. O.I. Osibote said that the office of the AGF raised a letter of credit in favour of Ministry of Finance to cover $231 million being a refund to one of the investors, the Korean National oil Company (KNOC) whose oil bloc allocation was later revoked.
He explained that there was no fraudulent deal but that it was only fair that KNOC be refunded the amount it paid since its allocation was cancelled. “We don’t know whether the letter of credit has been utilized. We don’t know the status of the credit. But $231 million was a letter of credit in favor of Ministry of Finance. We asked both the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Ministry of Finance what the amount was originally and what the status is now. We want to find out whether it has been utilized,” Osibote said.
http://odili.net/news/source/2009/jul/3/209.html