The Senate Committee on Gas has again confirmed that no $1.05 billion NLNG dividend was missing.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Bassey Albert, had clarified that the ongoing investigation of the application of $1.05billion Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividend to support the importation of petroleum products into the country had nothing to do with any missing funds since no such money was missing in the first place.

Downstream operators who spoke on the controversy said the efforts of NNPC in ensuring that there was no scarcity of petrol during Christmas yielded positive results as Nigerians had a hitch-free celebrations.

“It was evident that the NNPC judiciously utilised available resources to ensure uninterrupted supply of petrol,” said a CEO of oil marketing company, who spoke on anonymity.

Senator Albert, who doubles as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Application of the NLNG Dividend, had clarified that the mandate of the Committee was to determine the instrument under which NNPC relied upon to affect the said withdrawal and subsequent application of the NLNG dividend to meet pressing national demand for fuel supply, noting that the Committee relies on NNPC to provide informed perspective on the issues.

The Senate Committee Chairman emphasised that the engagement with NNPC was to understand the rudiments of the account flow and also to discover how the Committee, working in harmony with NNPC, could make the NLNG dividend more effective and beneficial to the nation.

Responding, Mr. Isiaka Abdulrazaq, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of NNPC, who represent the corporation’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, pledged the willingness of the corporation to support the Committee in its assignment, saying that relevant documents have been supplied to the panel to enable it determine the veracity or otherwise of NNPC’s perspective.