The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting scheduled to hold on Wednesday was postponed due to alleged underpayment into the federation account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
Mr Mahmoud Yunusa, Chairman, Forum of Finance Commissioners of FAAC, who disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja, said the postponement was unfortunate. He said it was the second consecutive month that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), would not be honouring its statutory obligations to the federation account.
Yunusa, however, said that to resolve the discrepancies, a meeting had been scheduled between the NNPC and the state governors. “We have some challenges; the figures we have gotten is far less than what was expected to be remitted by NNPC. “As it is now, there is a meeting between the governors and the top management of NNPC at the villa. “I believe this is a very high level deliberation and something good will come out of it.”
Yunusa who is also the Commissioner of Finance, Adamawa State, said in view of the current revenue challenges, it had become imperative for the corporation to become more transparent on how its operations are run. “There are processes to be followed and before now, you do not get to hear such news, because whatever issue there is, you deliberate on it.
“However, because this government is a government of change, some level of transparency is expected. “When you pick your figures and submit them, the person that is supposed to look at it and deliberate on it will ask questions if need be.”
Yunusa also said he did not know if the revenue underpayment by the NNPC was a deliberate attempt to short change the three tiers of government, adding that what happened could be an error.“I don’t want to use the word insincerity, because if one party is wrong, the other party is right and if you add it together at the end of the day you make progress.
“Last FAAC was postponed twice and at the end of the day we made progress. “That was during Easter break and in the spirit of Easter we held a meeting even though we were looking at the plight of the workers that were supposed to receive their salary when due.
“Based on the submission we have now, some states cannot pay salary now. “So what we are doing now is to table a lot of the issues and that is why the matter is being discussed at the highest level now.” (NAN)
