The court documents show that Messres Safaya was paid over N1 billion as 10 per cent consultancy fee but no document shows that the Ogun state government was paid a dime.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has denied payment of N20bn to ghost consultants and theft of multi-billion Naira tax due to the Ogun State Government.
SaharaReporters had reported how the Ogun State government dragged the NNPC to court over unpaid tax liabilities running into N9 billion.
The state government also alleged that there was outright stealing by the staff of the defunct Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), who allegedly paid a total sum of N1 billion to its consultant, Messres Safaya, as part of the money she helped them to save on the tax refund demands by the Ogun State government.
Following the transition of the PPMC, there is the NNPC retail which is for filling station owners and retailers and NNPC trucking, which is for vessels tank farms and others.
However, the state government was surprised that nothing was paid to it, but NNPC paid itself to the tune of over a billion naira.
The court documents show that Messres Safaya was paid over N1 billion as 10 per cent consultancy fee but no document shows that the Ogun state government was paid a dime.
A staff member of the corporation who is not happy with the alleged fraud that was committed by the defunct staff members of the corporation cited many instances of direct stealing by the defunct staff of the corporation. The staff member laments that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is turning a blind eye to the “massive fraud going on in NNPC because most of the principal actors involved are their people”.
He alleged that most of the payments to the consultants are being shared by the management of the defunct PPMC.
He challenged the EFCC officials to look at the account of the consultants hired by the management of the PPMC and see how the money was distributed.
On how much he thought was paid to consultants from his office, he said he could say categorically that over N20 billion was stolen under the pretext of paying ghost consultants they hired.
Reacting in a statement, Garba Deen Muhammad, Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC said it does not have or deal with ghost consultants.
He added that at the commission, the process of engaging consultants whenever the need arises is clear and verifiable and follows global best practices.
The statement read, “The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that as a responsible corporate organization, it does not have or deal with ghost consultants. At NNPC Ltd, the process of engaging consultants whenever the need arises is clear and verifiable and follows global best practices.
"The claim of a missing N2bn is absolutely false and baseless. The second component of the said unfortunate report is related to Ogun State Government claiming a back duty tax liability of about N18bn, against an NNPC subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Ltd.
“For clarity, PPMC had objected and challenged the claim through its Tax Consultant. Consequently, the Ogun State Government took the matter to court which is not unusual in business circles.
"The matter is currently before the court and NNPC Ltd will prove its case accordingly. In conclusion, NNPC Ltd strongly advises the said online publication to be mindful of the consequences of its actions before taking them."