APC Demands Probe of Past NLNG Payments To FG

APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Federal Government to investigate what happened to the past Company Income Tax/education tax as well as dividends paid to the Nigerian government by the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG), against the background of reports that the funds were never paid into the Federation Account as they should have been.

The party, which deplored efforts by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to discredit President Muhammadu Buhari for granting states a bailout, said the opposition party must be asked where it kept the $5.5 billion which it said was the dividend paid to the FG by the NLNG before the 29 May handover.

In a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also described as a glaring example of grandstanding opposition the attempt by the PDP to distort the facts about the source of the $2.1 billion that was approved for sharing by the three tiers of government by President Muhammadu Buhari.

''Whereas the Presidency corrected the initial erroneous report that the shared money was sourced from the Excess Crude Account (ECA), the skittish opposition continued to insist it was from the ECA and that it was part of the 'savings' by the Jonathan Administration.

While explaining the source of the bailout fund, APC said, ''We can tell Nigerians that the $2.1 billion was sourced from the $1.6 billion Company Income Tax/Education Tax paid to the FG on June 17th 2015, over two weeks after the Jonathan Administration left office, as well as the $500 million tax paid by Shell.

(c) This Day