The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) has debunked reports that it was operating a secret account.

Some report had alleged that a House of Representatives ad hoc Committee, set up to investigate “the structure and accountability and production sharing contracts of the NNPC from 1990 to date” had found a hidden account that belongs to NNPC Ltd. It claimed that the information was brought to light during an investigation into all Joint Venture agreements and Production-Sharing Contracts in the oil and gas industry since 1990.

But reacting to the reports, the NNPC in a statement signed by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Garba Deen Muhammad said neither it, nor its upstream arm, the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), operated a secret accounts. It explained in the statement that the Joint Venture cash call accounts denominated in US Dollars and Nigerian Naira are all domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in line with the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy, and with multiple layers of checks and balances, it is impossible for the NNPC to operate secret accounts.