Senate Committee Rejects NMDPRA's Import Records Discrepancies

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has rejected the petroleum importation records submitted by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for the years 2022 and 2023, citing significant discrepancies with figures reported by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). The committee decided to summon the heads of NMDPRA, NNPCL, and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to address these discrepancies and facilitate record reconciliation.

The discrepancies involve the volume of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) imported into Nigeria, with NMDPRA claiming 3.29 billion litres for 2022 and 6.02 billion litres for 2023, while NNPCL reported 6.27 billion litres in 2022 and 3.88 billion litres in 2023. Senators expressed concern over the differences, with Senator Abdul Ningi stating that some discrepancies exceed 50 percent.

Senator Anietan Bassey insisted on a thorough investigation to protect national interests. The committee, chaired by Senator Hassan Dankwabo, resolved to convene a meeting involving the three agencies.