Reps Summon FIRS Boss, Demand NNPC’s Tax Records

The House of Representatives’ Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Structure & Accountability of the Joint Venture Businesses and Production Sharing Contracts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation from 1990 has summoned the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Muhammad Nani.

This is just as the committee asked the FIRS to provide all tax records and other relevant documents on all the JVs and PSCs of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (now Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited) from 1990 to date.

Two officials, Ogunyemilusi Gabriel and Bello Rasheed appeared before the committee at the continued investigative hearing in Abuja on Tuesday, while various oil companies invited by the panel failed to show up.

 The FIRS’ representatives told the lawmakers that the relevant tax documents demanded by the committee had been submitted, though they covered only 2015 to 2021.

The documents demanded by the committee include the summary of petroleum profit tax; copies of tax returns filed by all JV ventures from 1990 to 2022; summary of all remittances to federation account of all tax revenues between 1990 to 2022; copies of correspondence between NNPC and FIRS tax remittances; summary of all remittances to federation account of all tax revenues between 1990 to 2022; and certified true copies of the various tax revenues accounts maintained or supervised by FIRS on behalf of the federation.

 The FIRS delegation said the remaining records would be made available as they were archived.

According to the officials, the Service has a policy of archiving every six years, which was why the records from 1015 to 2021 were readily accessible when the committee demanded them.

 A member of the House, Benjamin Kalu, however, decried that the archiving policy was restricting the mandate of the committee.

“It is restricting. I say so because if you look at the request from the letter, which is from 1990, and you are starting at 2015 based on the policy, we are losing about 25 years of inquiry.

“They must present this number of years wherever the documents are. We need those documents for us to conduct a thorough investigation. Let no excuse be given,” he said.

The Chairman of the committee, Abubakar Fulata, demanded that the records be made available by Friday. He also directed Nami to appear before the committee next Tuesday to speak to the documents submitted.

Fulata further directed that the chief executives of the various oil companies invited appear in person or face sanctions.

The hearing was adjourned to next Tuesday.