(Ecofin Agency) - The Nigerian House of Senate said it will investigate allegations stating that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has illegally inflated funds collected as part of an official subsidy between 2006 and 2016. The sum concerned here amounts to $17 billion.

This decision follows a motion filed by Senator Dino Melaye who claims that there were irregularities in subsidies collected by the state oil company from the government over the period.

Melaye did not disclose the source of the allegations nor did he disclose how much of the $17billion came from fraudulent activities and how it was calculated. The senator in the motion also claimed that NNPC forwarded excess refined products to storages owned by private individuals who sold them illegally.

Commenting on the case, a spokesperson for NNPC said the company “has not been formally communicated on the issues”. “If received, the NNPC will study the alleged issues and respond accordingly,” he said

Let’s recall that NNPC, following an investigation carried out in 2012, was found out to be behind a $6.8 billion fuel subsidy scam. During the investigation, other companies were also discovered to have declared the same fuel import cargoes several times and claimed subsidies for fuel that was never delivered or sold.

The Federal government had since last year stopped issuing subsidies for fuel imports, but had instead put in place effective support which includes giving petrol importers access to dollars at favorable rates.

Anita Fatunji