By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The United States parliament has passed a bill that will allow federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged with minor crimes.

With the bill, such illegal immigrants risk deportation.

The Laken Riley Act was christened after a 22-year-old nursing student, killed last year in Georgia by Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan migrant, who crossed into the US illegally.

Ibarra had previously been arrested and charged with shoplifting but was not detained.

He was later sentenced in November last year to life in prison without parole for Riley’s murder.

“Every part of our system failed Laken that day,” Mike Collins, a Republican representative who sponsored the Act, said.

The bill passed on Tuesday, just days into the new session of Congress, setting the tone for President-elect Donald Trump’s ambitious policy agenda, which targets reduced immigration.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to undertake mass deportation soon after he takes office on January 20.

The Laken Riley Act drew the support of 48 Democrats and all Republicans.

The bill cleared the house on a 252-157 vote.

An expanded list of crimes that the bill penalizes includes burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.

Democrat critics argued that the new category is too broad and could result in innocent people being thrown into detention.

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The audit report details regulatory failures as well as disregard for due process and accountability standards.

Two agencies regulating Nigeria’s petroleum industry could not properly account for over N313 billion and their actions resulted in the loss of revenue to the government, according to the latest report by the Auditor General of the Federation.

The two petroleum agencies indicted in the report are the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The findings in the 2021 audit report, the latest by the auditor general, are interim observations requiring the regulators to provide explanations to the auditor general. However, even in cases where they provided explanations, the auditor general said some of their explanations were untenable.

The report detailed regulatory failures as well as disregard for due process and accountability standards.

Auditors said a total of N309 billion and $2.28 billion remained largely unaccounted for under the NUPRC and NMDPRA in 2021.

The two agencies were established in August 2021 following the signing into law of the Petroleum Industry Act by then-President Muhammadu Buhari. Gbenga Komolafe was appointed as the pioneer Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC in September 2021 and still holds the position, while Farouk Ahmed was appointed as the pioneer Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA in September 2021 and still holds the position. Thus, the infractions occurred during the management of the agencies by both men.

The unexplained monies include outstanding royalties, non-payment of bridging allowances, and irregular balances in marketers’ indebtedness records.

Outstanding Royalties
Auditors observed that $1.65 billion was the outstanding Royalties payable by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) CBN account with respect to Production Sharing Contracts (PSC), Repayment Agreement (RA) and Modified Carry Arrangement (MCA) liftings as of 31 December 2021.

However, DPR only received $1.4 billion out of the $1.65 billion expected to be received, thereby, leaving an outstanding balance of $254 million as outstanding royalties for the period under reference.

Auditors said there was no reason provided for non-collection of the revenue arrears.

The non-collection of the revenue contravenes Paragraph 227 (i) of the Financial Regulation (FR), which states “Accounting Officers who are responsible for the collection of revenue will furnish annually a Return of Arrears of revenue due at the 31 December in each year which remains uncollected by the following 31 March. The return, which will be submitted by the 31 May, shall be prepared in triplicate, one copy each sent to the Accountant-General, and the Auditor-General while the third retained for record purposes. In cases where there is no outstanding revenue, a NIL return should be rendered. The Accountant-General will list in his Annual Report these departmental returns for the information of the Public Accounts Committee.”

Also, paragraph 227(ii) of the FR states that “It is the responsibility of Accounting Officers to follow up outstanding items of revenue and to take all necessary steps to ensure collection or, where collection is no longer possible, to apply to the Ministry of Finance for authority for a write-off, explaining the circumstances.”

The auditor general fears that this practice has resulted in the loss of revenue to the government and difficulty funding the 2021 budget.

In responding to the query raised by the auditor general, NUPRC said the outstanding revenue due from NNPC-COMD MCA/PSC as of 31 December 2021 has been paid to the tune of $224 million, leaving behind $29.6 million that is still outstanding. The management added that it is making efforts with the NNPCL to ensure the outstanding amount of $29.6 million is paid.

However, auditors said the management’s response failed to address the issue raised in its entirety (i.e., recovery of outstanding royalties due from the NNPC-COMD MCA/PSC). “Therefore, the findings remain valid to the extent that $29.6 million remained uncollected.”

Unjustified deductions by NNPCL
From the review of NNPC JV schedules and other documents, auditors observed that N204 billion was deducted by the state oil firm from the Oil Royalty assessed by the DPR for 2021.

The deductions by NNPCL include, among other things, priority projects, strategic holding costs, crude oil and product losses.

The auditor general said no justifiable reasons were provided for the deductions of the royalties by the NNPCL before remittance. The action is also in breach of Section 162 (1) of Nigeria’s Constitution.

In its response, NUPRC said the NNPCL makes deductions for government priority projects at source before remitting royalty to NURPC, with the latter having no control over this. Thus, NNPCL is in a better position to provide the necessary approvals to justify these deductions.

The regulator explained that the office of the Accountant General of the Federation has been duly written on the payment of 4 per cent Cost of Revenue Collection to NURPC for money deducted at source by NNPC for Government priority projects.

The auditor general, however, dismissed the explanation from the management of NURPC, saying it failed to address the issue raised (i.e. recovery of unjustified deductions from Joint Venture Royalty by NNPC).

The auditor general then directed the NUPRC CCE to recover the N204 billion and remit the same into the Federation Account. He added, “Henceforth, the CCE should ensure that amounts due for the Federation Account are not subjected to any deductions by Operators in the industry.”

Billions of dollars missing
From the review of the Revenue Ledger for 2021, audited documents observed that Oil Royalty amounting to $1.74 billion remained unpaid by some oil companies as of the end of December 2021.

Auditors said $13.8 million in revenue relating to royalty on gas sales (foreign) still remains outstanding as of 31 December 2021 while N48.2 billion was in arrears for gas royalty (local) for the same period.

According to the report, 23 operators also failed to pay $496 million, being outstanding Federation Account revenue relating to the Gas Flare Penalty, while 17 oil companies owed $7.68 million as outstanding concession rentals for the period of 2021.

The non-payment of oil royalties by these companies in 2021 was a denial of essential revenue to the federation account and violates extant financial regulations, the report said, adding that the above anomalies could also be attributed to weaknesses in the internal control system at NUPRC.

In responding to this specific issue, NUPRC said the operations in the oil industry are structured in such a way that most times there are time lags of about 60 to 90 days upon which the payment is expected to be effected by the operators from the oil revenue assessed.

Despite the lags, NUPRC said it is doing everything possible to ensure that operators pay their dues as soon as they become due and payable to the federation as provided by extant laws and operational policies in the industry.

The agency said it noted the recommendation made by the auditor general and efforts are in top gear to ensure that the amounts are fully recovered as recommended. “Letters have been written to the affected operators and payments are currently being made. A total of $4.9 billion and N494 billion have been collected between January and August 2022 from Operators representing largely part of the outstanding of the year 2021 and current dues of the year 2022,” NUPRC said.

Any payment of outstanding royalties and other fees from the operation are duly accounted for to the Federation as this has been the practice. The NUPRC has an existing internal control system, however, auditor’s observations and recommendations on the improvement have been noted for implementation.”

The auditors’ evaluation states that the response from the management of NUPRC failed to address the issue raised (i.e. recovery of outstanding royalties from Oil, Gas, Concession Rentals and Gas Flared payable by Operators to the Federation Account).

The auditor general requested the CCE of NUPRC to provide justification for non-payment of outstanding oil royalties amounting to $2.26 billion and N48 billion by the oil companies. He also wants the money to be recovered and remitted to the Federation Account.

Indictment of NMDPRA
Reviewing the books of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), auditors observed that N28.6 billion representing Bridging Allowances from the NNPCL Retail to the defunct Petroleum Equalization Funds (Management) Board, now the Authority, remained outstanding as of 31 December 2021.

Bridging allowance is not the authority’s revenue. It is meant for the reimbursement of transportation incurred by the marketers as a result of transporting petroleum products across the country.

A reconciliation was said to have been carried out between the NMDPRA and NNPC Retail to arrive at this figure for the fourth quarter of 2021. However, reconciliation statements and agreements/MoUs signed by the parties during reconciliation meetings were not produced for auditors to scrutinise.

“Reasons for delay remittance of the bridging claims, strategies in remitting the balance as well as efforts by the Board in ensuring speedy recovery of the revenue arrears were not provided for audit review,” auditors said.

In addressing the concerns of the auditor general, the NMDPRA said reconciliations between NMDPRA and NNPC Retail are a continuous process. “For the period under review, NNPC Retail remitted the N7 billion out of the outstanding bridging allowance which has subsequently been utilized for marketers’ payment.”

The auditor general said the response from the petroleum authorities failed to address the issue raised (i.e. recovery of outstanding bridging allowance from NNPC Retail).

“Therefore, the findings of the report remain valid and the Authority Chief Executive should “recover the outstanding N28.6 billion bridging claims from the NNPC Retail for 2021 and remit same to the Federation Account,” the auditor general said.

Outstanding bridging allowance claims from oil marketers
Auditors also observed from the review of bridging allowance receivables that N13.5 billion, representing bridging claims from three major marketers to PEF(M)B, remained outstanding as of the 4th quarter of 2021

Audited documents show that reconciliation was held between the NMDPRA and major marketers before arriving at these figures for quarter four of 2021 without producing records like minutes of the reconciliation meetings, attendance and Agreement/MoU signed by the parties at the reconciliation meetings.

“Reasons for the delayed remittance of the bridging claims, strategies in remitting the balance as well as efforts by the Board to ensure speedy recovery of the revenue arrears were also not provided for audit review.”

In its response, the NMDPRA said in an effort to recover all outstanding bridging allowances from marketers, it has set up a taskforce.

“Reconciliation is also ongoing for Mobile (11 PLC) and Total PLC bridging allowance,” it added, noting that these measures are put in place by the management of the agency to ensure that all outstanding allowance is fully recovered.

However, the auditor general said the response from the management failed to address the issue raised. Therefore, the findings remain valid. The auditor general also wants the agency to recover the 2021 bridging claims of N13.5 billion from the major marketers and remit the same to the Federation Account.

Irregular balances in marketers’ indebtedness record
The audit observed that balances from six marketers’ indebtedness records, as submitted, were irregular and inaccurate, as the same balances computed by the audit revealed different figures.

While the total balance due from the indebtedness of the six marketers was submitted as N15.4 billion, audit computation revealed a total of N16.4 billion, resulting in a variance of N1.08 billion and no justifiable reasons were provided to allude to the said variance.

The regulator acknowledged the error in its response to the auditor general. However, it said the discrepancy is due to the date of cut-off and recognition. “Also, note that reconciliation is intertwined between bridging allowances and marketers’ payment (claims) through ticketing and batching subsequent payments. This can create a variance as of the date of recognition.”

“Management notes the variance and will reconcile with the audit unit to adjust for the differences established. The taskforce is reconciling with all DAPPMA Marketers for the recovery of all outstanding Bridging Allowance.”

The auditor general said the response from the management failed to address the issue raised. “Therefore, N1.08 billion should be recovered from the marketers and remitted to the Federation Account.”

More billions missing
Audit observed that balances from twenty (20) marketers’ indebtedness records, as submitted, amounting to N14.1 billion remained outstanding without any payment made by the marketers during the accounting year 2021.

Efforts made by the accounting officers to follow up on outstanding items of revenue and necessary steps to ensure collection of the funds were not provided.

The petroleum regulator said regular meetings were being carried out by the management, taskforce, PPMC and Major and DAPP Marketers on the recovery and timely remittances of outstanding bridging allowance.

The auditor general’s evaluation of the response states that management failed to address the issue raised (i.e. recovery of indebtedness by some DAPPMAN Marketers).

“Therefore, the agency should recover the outstanding indebtedness of N14.1 billion from the 20 Marketers and remit same to the Federation Account.”

The Kogi State Government has mandated students at the state-owned tertiary institutions to present their parents’ Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) for registration.

The order is contained in a circular from Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS), dated November 26, 2024 and addressed to all the heads of the state owned tertiary institutions, effective from January 2025.

The circular, signed by KGIRS Chairman, Sule Salihu Enehe, and copied to the Vice Chancellor, Confluence University of Science and Technology, Osara, marked KGIRS/PIT/ Vol.5/11647.

It read, “Enforcement of Tax Clearance as condition for students registration.

“This is to further remind you on the need to ensure compliance for the students of your institution to present the Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) of their Parents or verifiable Guardian during the process of registration, either as fresh or returning students.

“In line with the provisions of the law , we shall carry out compliance beginning from January 2025.”

However, the move has drawn the ire of stakeholders: parents, concerned citizens and right activists in the state, who described the decision as harsh and absurd.

Several people sought more clarification, noting that the new directive was not in the students’ admission and registration requirements.

Many stakeholders raised onservation that some students sponsored themseveles and are children of peasant farmers or private individuals outside the state.

“We have been on it since last year. It’s unfortunate and condemnable, for a student that have registered and have met all conditions stipulated in the admissions process and yet cannot enjoy his or her rights. It is ridiculous.

“We urged the NBA in Kogi State as a matter of urgency to intervene quickly. There are students that are training themselves; where would they get the clearance from,” said Idris Miliki Abdul, Executive Director, Conscience for Human Rights and Conflicts Resolution (CHRCR).

Also, the National Commissioner in Charge of the Right to Education at the National Human Rights Commission of Nigeria, NHRC, Sir Agabaidu Jideani appreciated the efforts of the Kogi State Government to ensure tax compliance among its citizens, particularly parents.

“However, I strongly believe that the recent memo issued by the Chairman of the Kogi State Board of Internal Revenue Service, which mandates institutions of learning to refuse registration to students without a verifiable tax clearance certificate from their parents, may inadvertently deny children their right to education.

“Our quest to satisfy the financial urge of the government should not deprive the citizens of their fundamental rights especially that of education which is not freely given,” he said.

Meanwhile, a legal practitioner and Rights activist, Arome Odoma, has challenged the legality of the policy, in a pre-action notice addressed to the Governor of the State, Ahmed Usman Ododo, and the Chairman of the Board of Internal Revenue Service.

“This policy is not only repugnant to Natural Justice, Equity and good conscience but also an attempt to deprive the future leaders their right to education.

“The Chairman of the board should take note that education is not a privilege but a right, it then goes to say that education is legally guaranteed for all without discrimination,” said Odoma in his pre- action notice on Parental Tax Clearance for Student Registration.

The state Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kinsley Fanwo, did not respond to messages and calls when contacted.

However, the Public Relations Manager of the KGIRS, Muktar said, “I will speak with you after getting a clearance from my EC.”

He was yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.