TheCable

The All Progressives Congress (APC) says it will publish the full audit report of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and expects it will need to repay the government more than previously recommended.

This was revealed by Kayode Fayemi, the party’s policy director and former governor of Ekiti state, in an interview at his residence in Lagos.

The party expressed belief that the NNPC may need to refund more than the $1.48 billion stated in the highlights of a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP report released by the auditor-general in February.

“I have a figure that’s more than the $1.5 billion that’s been talked about,” he said.

“We’ve seen credible information that what PwC says is more than that. We will release the report. We’ll make it available to Nigerians as soon as we have full information on this.”

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former governor of central bank of Nigeria, was suspended by President Goodluck Jonathan last year after he alleged the NNPC hadn’t remitted about $20 billion of oil revenue to the government, which derives 90 percent of export earnings and two-thirds of income from the commodity.

The government then launched a PwC audit of the corporation. Key points of the audit into the NNPC said the corporation should refund a minimum of $1.48 billion, with the oil company saying the report absolved it of Sanusi’s allegations. Jonathan’s government hasn’t published the complete report.

Sanusi, now Emir of Kano, insisted last month that the issue wasn’t addressed sufficiently.

The APC may also re-organize the NNPC, which regulates the petroleum sector and takes part in production through joint ventures with Royal Dutch Shell Plc., Exxon Mobil Corp., Total SA, Chevron Corp. and other companies.

“NNPC will not be in the form or shape it’s currently in, some measure of unbundling will happen,” Fayemi said.

Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and largest oil producer, has been battered by the 47 per cent fall in Brent crude prices since a peak in June.

Economic growth will slow to 4.8 percent this year, about half the average of the last 15 years, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The naira has weakened 17 per cent against the dollar in the past six months, more than some 24 African currencies.