Nigeria's state oil firm fails to remit $16 billion in revenues

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has failed to remit $16 billion to the government, in what is suspected to be fraud.

emmanuelVitus Nigeria oil revenues of $16 billion 'missing': Nigeria’s national oil company held back 3. https://t.co/yeAl7DLzPJ

— Emmanuel Agbenowossi (emmavitus) March 15, 2016

The information was contained in the 2014 annual audit report presented to the national assembly by the office of the auditor general.

The report comes after Lamido Sanusi, the ex-governor of Nigeria’s central bank was suspended from his role at the central bank in 2014, after accusing the NNPC of failing to remit $20 billion.

The state-owned company must, according to the constitution, hand over all oil revenues to the federal government. Money is then paid back based on the budget approved by parliament.

Nigeria’s petroleum minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu recently announced that the NNPC would be restructured into 30 smaller entities, in a bid to tackle losses of millions of dollars per month.

NNPC is yet to comment on the findings.

Africa’s top oil producer is heavily dependent on its oil sector which accounts to about 33 percent of the country’s GDP and relies on export of the commodity for more than 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings.