THE Senate has commenced a probe into allegations that some banks in the country are colluding with International Oil Companies (IOCs) to defraud the country.
The joint committee on Finance, Trade and Investment, Gas, Petroleum Upstream, Banking, insurance and other Financial Institutions, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, and Customs and Excise is handling the probe.
According to a report in the Senate, the IOCs had allegedly denied the country over $62 billion between August 2009 and December 2014.
A document in the Assembly indicated that some of the affected banks had been asked to produce copies of certified Nigeria Export Proceed (NXP) issued or processed by them in respect of all crude oil and gas exported by oil companies, including Nigeria Agip Company Ltd, Chevron Nigerian Limited, Shell Petroleum Development Co. Nig. Ltd and their affiliates between April 1996 and December, 2016.
It was gathered that the affected banks were also asked for details of domiciliary accounts opened and/or closed within the period, especially those specified for crude oil and gas exports.
Already, officials of some banks appeared before the joint committee on Thursday, while other banks, it was gathered, would soon be invited.
A member of the joint committee, Senator Yusuf Yusuf, said he was concerned that funds brought to the country as oil export proceeds were immediately withdrawn, raising questions whether Nigeria was reaping benefits of its oil exports or not.
Chairman of the joint committee, Senator John Enoh, also confirmed that the job of his committee was to ensure that banks were not allowed to collude with IOCs to flout the laws of Nigeria.
One of the documents being examined by the committee indicated that one of the banks operated different domiciliary export proceeds accounts for many oil companies.
For instance, the document showed that the Nigerian Agip Oil Company recorded a total export inflow valued at $15,372,882,703.36; Chevron Group, $44,020,596,289.99, while Shell made a total inflow valued at $3,516,237,425.79, giving total of $62,909,716,417 billion.
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