The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority has told the Auditor-General of the Federation that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission is solely responsible for collecting gas flare penalties, insisting that the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund only receives its statutory allocation from the upstream regulator.
The NMDPRA, through the MDGIF, said the discrepancies flagged in the Auditor-General’s report were caused by timing and reconciliation issues in the Federation Account process and did not represent unaccounted revenue.
“We wish to clarify that gas flare penalty remittances are collected solely by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, in line with its statutory responsibility,” it was stated.
The clarification was contained in a statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs Department, NMDPRA, George Ene-Ita, on Tuesday.
It followed the Auditor-General’s findings on the MDGIF, which The PUNCH reported had uncovered about N94.4bn in alleged financial irregularities and revenue-related issues involving the fund.
