The Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) has told the Ad-hoc committee of Parliament that an amount of US$100.7 million which was realised from the lifting of 944,164 barrels of oil in the Jubilee fields and Anadarko CWTP Company in the first half of 2022 was not paid into the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF).
But the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has disagreed with PIAC’s position and absolved the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta of wrongdoing.
Appearing before the committee in Parliament today (November 17, 2022), PIAC stated that the Petroleum Holding Company Limited (JOHL), a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), rather paid the money into an offshore account.
The proceeds were accrued from the seven per cent interest the GNPC acquired from Jubilee Fields and Anadarko Company assets for $119 million in April 1, 2021.
That, the committee, said breached section 6 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act, 2011 (Act 815) and section 7 of the Petroleum Revenue Management (Amendment) Act, 2015 (Act 893).
Both Act 815 and Act 893 state that revenues accruing to the Republic from the direct or indirect participation of the Republic shall first and foremost be paid into the Petroleum Holding Fund.
Testifying as a witness before the Ad-hoc committee in Parliament today, the Vice Chairman of PIAC, Nasir Alfa Mohammed, said “Mr Chairman, we have established that they have not paid that quantum of money, which ought to have formed part of petroleum revenues of Ghana, into the Petroleum Holding Fund and in our view that is contrary to the law.
“This money ought to have been deposited in the holding fund and not in any other account. Our consideration is that if those money did not come to the PHF, the state will be denied legitimate revenues from petroleum.
“Our position as a committee is that lifting, whether it is lifted by a 100 per cent of GNPC or not, ought to come first into the Petroleum Holding Fund from where disbursement can be made for whatever reason,” he stated.
Mr Mohammed was testifying response of the proponents of the censure motion against the Finance Minister on ground of illegal payment of revenues into offshore account in flagrant violation of article 176 of the Constitution.
