Leadership (Abuja)
Philip Nyam
8 January 2009
Abuja — In compliance with the directive of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua that ministries, departments and agencies return all monies not utilised before December 31, the ministry of petroleum resources has remitted the unspent sum of N6 billion budgeted for the execution of Escravos-Lagos pipeline project in the 2008 budget to federal government.
This is just as it has been disclosed that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) realised an estimated N800 billion in 2008, according to the acting director, Mr. Bili Agha.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia who disclosed this yesterday at the budget defence session with the House of Representatives committee on petroleum resources (upstream)explained that the refunded money includes N6 billion approved for the execution of Escravos-Lagos pipeline expansion project (Phases I and II); N10 million approved as counterpart funding for IAEA; N95 million approved for Gas Royalty reconciliation and N300 million released for OBOB-Oben pipeline project.
The minister explained that the ministry realised the sum of N73,217,260.38 from internally generated revenue in 2008 as against N28,147,924.54 generated in 2007.
He explained that the "revenue generated in respect of Withholding tax (WHT), VAT, and Pay as you earn (PAYE) have been duly remitted to federal inland revenue service (FIRS) while other revenues were remitted to the sub-Treasurer of the federation in compliance with the extant regulations.
According to him, over N18 billion is to be spent on the conceptualisation and definition, feasibility studies of four major projects including Trans Sahara Gas pipeline; Calabar-Umuahia; Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kano pipeline project and Gas supply pipeline to PHCN Delta IV.
Ajumogobia however explained that Nigeria is yet to pay the sum of 1.9 million euros for 2008 due to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Other financial obligations yet to be paid by Federal Government include $1 million to GECF; $1.282 million to WAGP; $250,000 for technical cooperation with Trinidad & Tobago; $250,000 technical cooperation with Norway; $150,000 APPA obligation; as well as $450,000 to API; $150,000 to ASTM; $300,000 to IP and $250,000 to ISO being corporate membership with international standard organization.
While giving an appraisal of the 2008 budget, acting director of DPR, Mr. Bili Agha explained that from the N800 billion income recorded in 2008, only N637.87 billion realised from payment of Royalties has been remitted into the federal government's purse while the balance of about N1,621,288,082,507 is yet to be remitted by various companies as at the end of 2008 fiscal year.
Of the sum, N634,473,270,613.99 or 143 percent was generated from payment of Royalties in 2008 as against N443,332,300,000 billion projected revenue ; N2,236,255,671.53 or 74.54 percent was generated from Gas Flare penalty as against N3 billion projected revenue; N60,717,650.67 representing two percent of the N3 billion projected revenue from Concession rentals while N1,101,673,556.61 billion or 43.89 percent of N2.15 billion was realised from MISC Oil revenue in the year under review.
In the 2009 budget proposal, the agency projected total revenue at N365,477,640,000 as against N637.87 which represents an increase of 74.53 percent revenue recorded in 2008.
While responding to the decrease in the revenue projection for 2009, Agha explained that the reduction was premised on the decline in the prices of global crude oil as well as the $45 benchmark.
It however proposed to spend the total sum of N23,039,748,290 in 2009, out of which N17,121,909,118 is to be spent on personnel cost against N13,846,096,220 in 2008; N901,339,172 was proposed for overhead against N1,061,636,043 spent in 2008 while N5,016,500,000 was proposed for the execution of capital project in 2009 against N3,657,437,651 spent in capital projects in 2008.
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