House of Representatives has said it is probing the structure and accountability of Joint Venture (JV) business and production sharing contracts (PSCs) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, Hassan Fulata, yesterday said some NNPC accounts did not follow due process. He said the committee discovered a secret account by NNPC Ltd., alleging the Federal Government did not follow due process in opening these accounts. Acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Okolieaboh Sylva, denied the government’s knowledge of such a secret account. Office of the AGF, Total Energy, Shell Petroleum Company and Chevron were present to answer questions.The committee invited heads of government and corporate agencies as well as companies, such as Seplat Oil and Gas and Newcross Oil and Gas on Tuesday. The lawmakers insisted they must appear in person, warning that the National Assembly would not hesitate to invoke the relevant constitutional privilege should any of the heads of the agencies fail to honour its invitation. The mandate of the committee is to establish whether various joint venture agreements of the NNPC followed due process.

Nation