The Senate Committee on Public Accounts, on Wednesday, rejected the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority’s (NMDPRA) records of petrol imports for 2022 and 2023.

This followed discrepancies between the authority’s records and those of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL).

The committee consequently resolved to summon the heads of NMDPRA, NNPCL and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to explain the discrepancies and facilitate the reconciliation of the records.

The discrepancies emerged when NMDPRA appeared before the Senate Public Accounts Committee, chaired by Senator Hassan Dankwambo.

The agency appeared before the committee to respond to queries raised in the NEITI Oil and Gas Industry Audit Report covering 2021 to 2023.

The authority chief executive, Rabiu Umar, was represented by a deputy director, Uzoamaka Ugwu-Ojobe, who defended the agency’s records despite the differences in the figures presented by the two agencies.

Ms Ugwu-Ojobe told the committee that NMDPRA recorded 3.29 billion litres of petrol imports in 2022 and 6.02 billion litres in 2023.

She contrasted these figures with NNPCL’s records of 6.27 billion litres in 2022 and 3.88 billion litres in 2023.

Ms Ugwu-Ojobe described the differences as slight, adding that the agencies were looking into them for possible reconciliation.

However, Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) faulted the explanation, describing the discrepancies as wide, disturbing and suspicious rather than slight.

Mr Ningi said differences exceeding 50 per cent in the records of the two agencies required serious attention, particularly given their implications for accountability in the petroleum sector.

Similarly, Senator Dayo Faduyile (Ondo South) expressed concern, saying the significant differences in the figures raised questions about the reliability of the records.

Another committee member, Senator Aniekan Bassey (Akwa Ibom North-East), called for a thorough investigation to establish the reasons for the discrepancies.

Mr Bassey said Nigerians must not continue to suffer losses because of inconsistencies in official records of petroleum imports.

He urged the committee to investigate the figures and establish whether any wrongdoing had occurred, stressing the need to protect the country’s economic interests.

Following the submissions, the chairman of the committee, Mr Dankwambo, rejected NMDPRA’s explanation and resolved to convene a meeting with the three agencies.

Mr Dankwambo said the committee found the authority’s response unsatisfactory, particularly regarding the volume of petrol imported during the period covered by the audit report.

He said the heads of NMDPRA, NNPCL and NEITI would be summoned to explain the discrepancies and provide information that could facilitate the reconciliation of the records.