The Network Against Corruption and Trafficking (NACAT) has called on the Senate Committee on Budgetary Allocations to summon the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to publicly disclose and defend its 2025 budget.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, NACAT’s Executive Director of Investigation, Fejiro Oliver Tega, accused NMDPRA of consistently operating under a veil of secrecy regarding its budget. He urged the Senate to demand accountability from the agency’s management, warning that failure to do so would prompt NACAT to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a full-scale investigation.
According to Tega, NMDPRA’s financial allocations raise serious concerns. He highlighted excessive provisions in the agency’s budget, including:
• ₦2.43 billion for local travel and transport despite a staff strength of 1,367, with only a limited number benefiting from training.
• An additional ₦3.13 billion for ‘other’ local travel and transport expenses, with no clear justification.
• ₦7.1 billion for international travel and transport, a sum he described as outrageous given the economic hardship Nigerians face.
• A further ₦3.89 billion for additional international travel expenses, bringing the total allocation for foreign trips to over ₦11 billion for fewer than 20 individuals.
• ₦6.14 billion allocated to training, including ₦1.25 billion for local training and ₦4.89 billion for international training, which NACAT claims is inflated and duplicated.
Tega stressed that Nigerians deserve transparency regarding how public funds are utilized. He also referenced previous petitions by NACAT that led to EFCC investigations into former governors Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta State) and Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom State), emphasizing the group’s commitment to exposing corruption.
NACAT urged the Senate to ensure that NMDPRA’s budget is scrutinized in a public hearing to prevent financial mismanagement and hold the agency accountable.
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