Watch out for Nigerian PEPs with oil money

Chris Hamblin

Clearview Publishing

19 February 2014

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria has sounded the alarm about a staggering one-off embezzlement that might be about to find its way into various HNW accounts onshore.

Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi told a recent press conference: "The NNPC shipped $67bn worth of crude. We have established that 47bn has come back to the federation. $20bn has not come back. The burden of proof is on the NNPC." The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is the state oil firm through which the federal government of Nigeria regulates and participates in the country's petroleum industry.

The governor believes that the money stems from a subsidy racket inside the nationalised corporation and may explain huge shortfalls in what Africa’s leading oil producer is earning from its sales of Brent Crude.

On the board are Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke (the minister of petroleum resources and the board's chair); group MD Andrew Yakubu; group executive director of finance Mr Bernard ON Otti; Mr Hamman A Sambo; Mr Alhaji Abdullahi Bukar; Mr Danladi Wadzani;
Prof Olusegun Okunnu; Mr Danladi Kifasi; Mr Steven Oronsaye; and company secretary and legal advisor Mr Anthony Madichie.