This is contained in a communique issued at the end of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting and signed by Ahmed Idris, the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), in Abuja.

The shared amount comprised revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT), Exchange Gain and Gross Statutory Revenue.

The communique said that the gross statutory revenue of N631.79 billion received for August was lower than the N674.36 billion received in the previous month by N42.56 billion.

It added that, revenues from Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) and Companies Income Tax (CIT) increased considerably, while VAT, Royalties, Import and Excise Duties recorded decreases.

It also said that the gross revenue available from VAT for August was N88.08 billion as against the N94.15 billion that was distributed in July, resulting in a decrease of N6.07 billion.

However, additional N20 billion from the Forex Equalisation Account would be shared accordingly among the three tiers of government, it said.

It also said that Exchange Gain yielded a total revenue of N1.002 billion.

On the sharing formula, overall, the Federal Government received N301.8 billion representing 52.68 per cent, while states received N188.92 billion or 72 per cent.

The communique said that Local Governments received N142.65 billion, representing 20.60 per cent.

It added that mineral producing states received N43.51 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue, while revenue collecting agencies received N43.98 billion as cost of collection.

He added that the Excess Crude Account (ECA) balance stood at 328.12 million dollars.

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The amount showed a decrease of about N2.29 billion from what was shared in February.

Idris said this at a news conference at the end of the monthly Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja.

Giving a breakdown of the revenue accrued in March, Idris said that the mineral revenue reduced by N41.65 billion, moving from N350.09 billion in February to N308.4 billion in March.

He however, said that the non-mineral revenue Increased by N13.88 billion, from N124.3 billion in February to N138.2 billion in March.

He said that in March, the federation crude oil sales increased by 49.18 per cent, resulting in increased federation revenue of about 240.23 million dollars.

“Also, the average crude oil price increased from 63.62 dollars to 79.06 dollars per barrel.

“Lifting operations were adversely affected by production Shut in and Shut down at various terminals due to technical issues, leaks and maintenance.

“Revenues from Oil Royalty, import and Excise duties increased remarkably while Petroleum Profit Tax decreased marginally, ” he said.

In summary, Idris said that the Federal Government received N208.39 billion, states got N105.7 billion and local governments received N81.49 billion.

In addition, N39.59 billion, representing 13 per cent of the mineral revenue was shared to oil producing states.

Idris said that as at April 25, the money left in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was 183 million dollars.

He said that was the amount remaining in the ECA after withdrawals were made some months back to procure some necessary Military hardwares.

On the Implementation of the new minimum wage, Idris said technically it had commenced, therefore arrears would be paid once its cash backed.

Meanwhile, the Chairman, Commissioners of Finance Forum, Mahmoud Yunusa said the Forum had appointed the Commissioner of Finance, Kogi state as acting Head of the Forum.

He explained that the Kogi State Commisioner would handle the affairs of the Forum pending when the State Governors appoint new commissioners under the next administration.

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NEITI made the clarification in a statement signed by its Director of Communications and Advocacy, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

He said that the others stakeholders involved include the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and oil companies in the oil and Gas sector.

He said that the bulk of the outstanding amounts was from NLNG dividends from 2000 to 2015 and outstanding payments for the value of 12 Oil Mining Licenses (OMLs) divested to NPDC between 2011 and 2013.

“To say the non remittance happened under this administration or that the money went missing from the Federation Account is therefore totally incorrect and deliberately misleading.

“This clarification has become necessary based on the distortion and politicisation of the media reports of a conference hosted by NEITI in Abuja on Monday,’’ he said

Orji said that the focus of the conference was on how to ensure better implementation of NEITI’s audit recommendations, address the lingering issues in the extractive sector, and improve optimisation of Nigeria’s extractive endowments for the benefit of all Nigerians.

“The conference was not a fault-finding or political event. It was a solution-oriented gathering with good representation and useful contributions from government agencies (including NNPC, DPR, CBN, PPPRA etc), the private sector, civil society, academia, and the media,’’ he added.

He noted that information shared for discussion was not only historical, but also not new.

He further stated that there was no data shared and discussed at the conference that had not been made public over time, most notably in the NEITI Policy Brief on unremitted funds released in April 2017 and in the NEITI 2015 industry audit reports released in December 2017.

“Those who follow discussions on these issues closely would also be aware that various efforts have been made by different government institutions, including the Federation Allocation Accounts Committee (FAAC) and the National Economic Council (NEC) to ensure that NNPC and its subsidiaries address these legacy issues.

“It is noteworthy that at the conference yesterday, the NNPC team confirmed that many of the issues under reference have either been resolved or at advanced stages of resolution.

“While NEITI awaits the outcome of its ongoing audits for 2016 and 2017 to provide update on these and other issues, it is wrong to deliberately distort data from NEITI’s audits and the issues arising from them for sensational or political purposes,’’ Orji said.

He appeal to the media and the civil society as key partners in the NEITI process to always cross-check to ensure that facts align with the issues before publication.

The post $22.06bn, N481.75bn not remitted to FAAC, says NEITI appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

The representatives, consisting mainly Commissioners of Finance and Accountants General, on Wednesday refused to share the revenue made available by NNPC as statutory allocation for the three tiers of government for June.

Although no member of the committee explained why they refused to share the available revenue, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said on Thursday the deadlock was as a result of the “unacceptably low” revenue remitted by the NNPC for sharing.

Adeosun, who is also the Chairman of the FAAC Committee, told state governors the revenue made available by NNPC for sharing during the month “fell lower than expectations”.

She said FAAC members felt the figures the NNPC proposed for sharing were unacceptable, while some of the costs included in the report could not be justified.

Earlier, the NNPC through a statement by its spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, denied any wrongdoing, saying the remitted amount was agreed by the governors of the 36 states.

Ughamadu, in a statement said the N147 billion revenue remitted to FAAC for sharing to the three tiers of government was “in line with the terms of agreement it had with governors on the matter”.

He said the understanding between the NNPC and governors was that an average of N112 billion should be remitted to FAAC every month.

Despite the low benchmark, the NNPC said after meeting cash call obligations on joint Venture (JVs), deductions for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)-cost under recovery and pipeline maintenance, it ‘exceeded’ the limited set by the governors by N35 billion.

However, on Saturday, Commissioners of Finance Forum in FAAC, still disputed the figure the NNPC said it remitted for sharing.

Rather than N147 billion claimed by the NNPC, Chairman of the Forum, Mamood Yunusa, told reporters in Abuja, that the state oil firm transferred only N127 billion, being the equivalent amount remitted in May, leaving a shortfall of N20 billion.

According to Yunusa, since Wednesday, Mrs Adeosun has been meeting with members of the Forum, along with Federal Ministry of Finance officials, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Central Bank of Nigeria and the NNPC top management over the issue.

Yunusa, who provided more details on Sunday, said based on all provable assumption and parameters, the NNPC should have “remitted N60 billion as Royalty based on the verbal admission of Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR)”.

Similarly, based on the MTEF (medium term expenditure framework) submitted by NNPC, the expected Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) should have been 1.46 multiplied by N60 billion, “amounting to N87.6 billion”.

He said the total figure would come to about N147.6 billion, which is what was expected to be remitted to the federation account, against N127 billion “the NNPC actually paid”.

Apart from the figure, Yunusa said the NNPC also claimed it spent about N3.5 billion to take care of product pipeline leakages/vandalism. Meanwhile, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which is supposed to keep the records of such incidents and repairs claimed not to be aware of the expenditure, the official explained.

Yunusa said it was curious that states were getting more revenue to share at a time crude oil price was averaging about N50 per barrel, wondering why the return should be so low when the price of the commodity is almost N80 per barrel currently.

On Sunday, the NNPC spokesperson, Mr Ughamadu, expressed surprise that the governors, who reportedly reached understanding with the corporation on the amount to be remitted to the Federation Account monthly, are “the same whose representatives are disowning the agreement”.

He insisted the NNPC did nothing wrong and would “continue to be transparent and accountable in operations.”

While the controversy continues, thousands of state workers are yet to be paid their salaries for June. The Bayelsa State Government has said its workers may not receive their June pay until the controversy is resolved.

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The acceptance of the figures by the members of FAAC followed consultations made by the Minister of Finance, Accountant-General of the Federation with some States’ Governors and representatives of States’ Commissioners of Finance.

Accordingly, a total sum of N647.390 billion was shared as FAAC allocation among the Federal, States and Local Government Councils as revenue for the month of February 2018.

The communiqué issued by the Sub-Committee of Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, indicated that the gross statutory revenue received for the month is N557.943 billion and is higher than N538.908 billion received in the previous month by N19.035 billion. The shared amount comprise the Month’s Statutory distributable revenue of N557.943 billion and the Value Added Tax of N89.447billion making up the sum of N647.390 billion.

Accordingly, from Net Statutory Allocation, the Federal Government received N257.927 billion representing (52.68%); States received N130.824 billion (26.72%); Local Government Councils received N100.860 billion representing (20.60%); while the Oil Producing States received N57.357 billion as 13% derivation revenue. Meanwhile, FIRS, Nigeria Custom Service and DPR received the sum of N14..554 billion as their cost of collection and FIRS refund.

Furthermore, from the Revenue available from the Net Value Added Tax (VAT), Federal Government received N12.880 billion (15%); States received N42.935 billion (50%) while the Local Government Councils received N30.054 billion (35%).

The Communique further explained that there was an increase in the average price of crude oil from $57.71 to $63.08 per barrel and an increase in export sales of 2.8 million barrels which resulted in increased revenue from Export sales of $194.39 billion .It further stated that other issues which negatively affected the Crude oil production and resulted to shut-ins and shut-downs are pipelines maintenance and repairs. Furthermore, significant increases were recorded in Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) while revenues from Import Duty, Companies Income Tax(CIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) decreased considerably in the month under review.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has scheduled a meeting with the Group General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to reconcile and resolve the gray areas.

The Federation Accounts and Allocation Committee meeting which was declared inconclusive Tuesday, was on Wednesday concluded and revenue figures presented by the Accountant General of the Federation, AGF was adopted and shared among the three tiers of Government.

The acceptance of the figures by the members of FAAC followed consultations made by the Minister of Finance, Accountant-General of the Federation with some States’ Governors and representatives of States’ Commissioners of Finance.

Accordingly, a total sum of N647.390 billion was shared as FAAC allocation among the Federal, States and Local Government Councils as revenue for the month of February 2018.

The communiqué issued by the Sub-Committee of Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, indicated that the gross statutory revenue received for the month is N557.943 billion and is higher than N538.908 billion received in the previous month by N19.035 billion. The shared amount comprise the Month’s Statutory distributable revenue of N557.943 billion and the Value Added Tax of N89.447billion making up the sum of N647.390 billion.

Accordingly, from Net Statutory Allocation, the Federal Government received N257.927 billion representing (52.68%); States received N130.824 billion (26.72%); Local Government Councils received N100.860 billion representing (20.60%); while the Oil Producing States received N57.357 billion as 13% derivation revenue. Meanwhile, FIRS, Nigeria Custom Service and DPR received the sum of N14..554 billion as their cost of collection and FIRS refund.

Furthermore, from the Revenue available from the Net Value Added Tax (VAT), Federal Government received N12.880 billion (15%); States received N42.935 billion (50%) while the Local Government Councils received N30.054 billion (35%).

The Communique further explained that there was an increase in the average price of crude oil from $57.71 to $63.08 per barrel and an increase in export sales of 2.8 million barrels which resulted in increased revenue from Export sales of $194.39 billion. It further stated that other issues which negatively affected the Crude oil production and resulted to shut-ins and shut-downs are pipelines maintenance and repairs.

Furthermore, significant increases were recorded in Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) while revenues from Import Duty, Companies Income Tax(CIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT) decreased considerably in the month under review.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun has scheduled a meeting with the Group General Manager of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to reconcile and resolve the gray areas.

The post FAAC resolve differences, shares N647bn to FG, States, LGC in March appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

His comments came after Maikanti Baru, NNPC group managing director, said the landing cost of petrol is now N171 as against the official retail price of N145.

However, speaking on Wednesday, Fayose wondered if there was any difference between the NNPC and the federal government.

In a statement issued by Lere Olayinka, his spokesman, the governor asked: “What is the difference between NNPC and the federal government? Who is NNPC and who is federal government? Is NNPC now an autonomous agency of the federal government?”

He said contrary to what is being presented, the NNPC does not have the rights “to swap crude oil for subsidy” nor to spend money it generates from the sales of crude oil.

He asked: “Where is NNPC getting the money with which it is subsidising petrol with N26 per litre? Is NNPC spending money from the sales of crude oil that should be paid into the federation account to pay subsidy?

“I like the vice-president, he is a pastor and I don’t believe that he will also join others in Buhari’s government to lie to Nigerians.

“However, this one that he presented NNPC as an agency of the federal government that can allocate fund without the approval of the president is very strange to me.”

Fayose also wondered where the money “is coming from” if subsidy is being paid by the NNPC.

“Is it from sales of crude oil? Does it now mean that the NNPC is spending part of the proceeds of the sale of crude oil outside allocation to the federal government by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC)?” he asked.

“We were in Nigeria in May 2016, when the federal government announced the removal of subsidy on petrol and went on to increase the pump price of petrol to N145 per litre.

“The same APC people, who protested against removal of subsidy and increment of petrol price to N140 in 2012, defended the removal in 2016 and increment of pump price to N145.

“In 2017 budget of the federal government, provision was not made for the payment of fuel subsidy, so also that of 2018. So where is the N26 they are subsidizing one litre of petrol with coming from? Is the Buhari-led government spending fund not appropriated by the national assembly?”

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This is N77.25 billion more than what it shared in October, Ahmed Idris, the Accountant-General of the Federation said.

Idris said that after the cost of collection deductions by FIRS, Customs and DPR, the Federal Government received N248.2 billion, representing 52.68 per cent; the states got N125.9 billion, representing 26.72 per cent and the 774 local councils received N97.06 billion, amounting to 20.60 per cent.

According to Idris, oil producing states got N54.48 billion, which represents the derivation share of 13 per cent.

He said that the country generated N356.07 billion as mineral revenue and N193.46 billion as non-mineral revenue in November, both showing improvements over the earnings in October.

Mineral revenue increased by N38.78 billion, while non-oil mineral revenue also jumped by N68.65 billion.

Idris said that oil revenue continues to be negatively impacted by low production due to poor maintenance, sabotage and the Force Majeure declared at Bonny Terminal.

He said that the balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as at Dec. 15 remained $2.317 billion. He also put the balance in the Excess Petroleum Profit Tax account, at $133 million.

Idris said the Federation Account has received instruction from the National Economic Council that $1billion be removed from ECA to fight Boko Haram.

“The instruction has been given. But there is a process before money is taken out of an account. So unless that withdrawal is made, the balance remains the same.

“On what the money will be used for, the appropriate institution will have to give you that, namely the military, who are the ones that will utilise the money, and they know their needs.

On why the money is being taken from the ECA, Idris said everyone should know that it is a savings account and ordinarily should have been distributed to the three tiers of government.

“So if the same owners decide that part of it should be utilised to secure the country, to secure the system, to make the system work and provide security for life and property, I don’t think it should be an issue.

“If the Governor of Ekiti has a problem with that, he should have made his position known to his forum, which is the Governor’s Forum.

“His dissension should not come to me on the pages of newspapers. He is entitled to whatever, but it should be directed to the appropriate place,” he said

Meanwhile, Mahmoud Yunusa, the Chairman, Commissioners of Finance Forum, said the distribution was timely, as it would enable states and local councils to pay workers ahead of Christmas.

The post FAAC: FG, States, LGs share N609.95bn November revenue appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

The committee, chaired by Raphael Nnana-Igbokwe (PDP, Imo), also directed the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF) to provide a report on the matter and submit same for further inquiry.

Nnana-Igbokwe, who issued the directive at the ongoing investigation into the pump price of petroleum products between 2013 and 2017, resolved to hand over some of the chief executives of oil compa—-nies to the police fraud unit and sergeant-at-arms for interrogation.

According to DPR records of crude lifted in February 2017, 2,845,142 barrels were transferred to the Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri refineries. The committee however discovered 3,853,647 barrels were delivered, leaving an excess of 1,008,505 barrels unaccounted for by the DPR.

Also in March 2017, DPR records showed that 3,227,556 barrels were supplied to the refineries while the record documented 2,400,297 barrels, a differential of 827,259 barrels unaccounted for.

For April 2017, while the DPR showed total crude oil lifted was 2,978,371 barrels, the committee discovered a total of 4,252,368 barrels were distributed to the three refineries, leaving a differential of 1,273,997 barrels.

Nnana-Igbokwe frowned at the complacency of the DPR “as watchdog of government” for failing to account for the actual crude oil lifted. He said: “That is why we insisted on the record you sent to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). We’ve observed specific encroachment into government revenue. Remember, we have the issue of N30 billion revenue for October, which is yet to be accounted for.

“Government will continue to experience shortfall because it can’t access total revenue accruable due to the shortfall. So, it is not about witch-hunt.”

Nnana-Igbokwe noted that there are 32 issues yet to be addressed by the DPR and directed, Idris Abdulrahman, the DPR team leader on crude, to brief the committee on details of the FAAC meeting where the revenue for October 2017 would be shared among the three tiers of government.

The committee also resolved to summon the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance at the next hearing to explain the rationale behind the N30 billion unremitted crude oil revenue.

Abdulrahman, who adopted the document, explained that the N30 billion revenue was for February 2017, adding that some private oil marketers stocked some crude oil in the refineries.

While giving update on the investigation conducted so far, Nnana-Igbokwe disclosed that one of the Managing Directors of the oil marketing companies alleged that $5 million forex was applied for without his consent, hence the rationale behind the resolve of the committee to invite the chief executives.

Responding to the committee’s inquiry into the allegation bothering on 10,000 metric tons of PMS and payment of N1,573,073,460 by Star Synergy Petrol on June 13, 2016, Nnana-Igbokwe asked whether someone was using the company’s identity to collect petroleum products.

In his response, Babatunde Babalola, CEO, Star Synergy Petrol, noted that the company had claims from PEF and had been paying its dues. He admitted that the company had not finished payment due to administrative arrangement with PEF. He added that the company only lifted five cargoes in 2017 but had not done any transaction since 2012.

The committee also queried Ibeto Petrochemical Industry Limited over the lifting of 4,889.03MT of petroleum products through a tank farm that had been sold to North West Company on January 17, 2013 and 4,978.02MT on the April 26, 2013.

Meanwhie, a pro-transparency and non-governmental organisation, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has urged the Federal Government to block all financial heists and leakages within the top management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

It also said the lack of action on the part of President Muhammadu Buhari to block the leakages is a constitutional breach of section 15(5) which provides that “the Nigerian state shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power”.

The rights group condemned the unending patterns of extreme epidemic of corruption and lack of accountability in the hierarchy of the NNPC, adding that the seeming inaction and conspiratorial silence of all the anti-corruption agencies to the monumental financial misapplication in the NNPC shows that these anti-graft bodies have become toothless bulldogs of the political party in power.

In a media statement jointly authorised by the national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the national media affairs director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA lamented that the Federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari has swept under the carpet of impunity the extensive allegations of breach of procurement law in the award of contracts totaling $24 billion as made by the minister for state for petroleum Dr. Ibe Kachikwu against NNPC’s GMD Alhaji Maikanti Baru.

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The communiqué issued by the sub -Committee of Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, at the end of the meeting in Abuja, indicated that the gross statutory revenue received for the month is N550.992 billion and is higher than the N387.319 billion received in the previous month by N163.673 billion.

The shared amount comprise the Month’s Statutory distributable revenue of N550.992 billion and the Value Added Tax of N86.712 billion, making up N637.704 billion.

Accordingly, from Net Statutory Allocation, the Federal Government received N260.609 billion representing (52.68%); States received N132.184 billion (26.72%); Local Government Councils received N101.908 billion representing (20.60%); while the Oil Producing States received N41.977 billion as 13% derivation revenue.

Furthermore, from the Revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT), Federal Government received N12.487 billion (15%); States received N41.622 billion (50%) while the Local Government Councils received N29.135 billion (35%).

The Communique further explained that there was a decrease in the average price of crude oil from $51.05 to $50.44 per barrel and a significant increase in export volume by 0.85 million barrels, which resulted in increase revenue from export sales revenue by about $41. million.

There was also shut-in and shut-down of pipelines due to the activities of vandals as well as for maintenance which impacted negatively on production. Furthermore, the Force Majeure declared at the Forcadose terminal since February, 2016 was still in place.

Significant increases were also recorded in Companies Income and Petroleum Profit tax while Import and Excise Duties and Value Added Tax recorded marginal increases.

Meanwhile the balance of the excesses crude account is $2.309 billion.

The post FAAC shares N637bn for August 2017 appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

Adeosun, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mahmoud Dutse, said this at the end of the monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, meeting in Abuja.

She said the shared amount was inclusive of Value Added Tax, VAT.
The Gross statutory revenue was put at N387.31 billion, while the VAT was N80.53 billion.

She said the decline in revenue was caused by a drastic fall in revenue from Companies Income Tax, CIT, due to the expiration of the deadline for filing tax returns.

She, however, said oil revenues recorded an increase due to rise in export sales by $62 million.

“The increase in the average price of crude oil from $50.27 per barrel to $51.05 per barrel and a significant increase in export volume by 1.20 million barrels resulted in increased revenue from export sales for the federation by $62 million.

“Despite the increases, there were issues of leaking flow lines, shut-ins and shutdowns at terminals for maintenance.”

Giving a breakdown of the allocation, Adeosun said the federal government received N193.04 billion, states N130.69 billion and local governments N98.01 billion.

She also said N31.59 billion was given to the nine oil producing states as their 13 per cent derivation.

She put the balance in the Excess Crude Account, ECA, at $2.3 billion.
Mahmud Yunusa, Chairman, Forum of Finance Commissioners, said it was time for the states to begin to look inwards to shore up their revenue.

“States will explore other options of revenue to depend less on revenue from the centre. We need to block leakages in revenue and come up with reforms to shore up revenue.

“We are also working on cost of running governance and any cost that is not necessary in running government needed to be reduced.”

He said reforms were currently on in the states to optimise the collection processes for revenue, adding that he was optimistic it would reduce dependence in revenue from the centre to about 50 to 60 per cent.

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