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The Network Against Corruption and Trafficking, NACAT, has called on the Senate Committee on Budgetary Allocations to mandate the Nigerian Midstream & Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, to appear before it.

The anti-corruption group noted that over the years, the budget of the regulatory authority has been shredded in secrecy.

NACAT said if nothing is done to probe the budget, it will be forced to petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for thorough investigation.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, on Wednesday, NACAT executive director of investigation, Fejiro Oliver Tega stated that NMDPRA, under the current management, has never made the agency’s budget available to the public.

It called on the budget committee to request the CEO and management staff of the agency to appear before the National Assembly in the full glare of Nigerians, to defend the budget on the floor of the assembly.

According to him: “Nigerians have never been privy to the breakdown of the budget of NMDPRA and how they spend the resources belonging to us as a nation.

“Under travel and transport with code number 22020101, the agency budgeted a staggering sum of N2, 430,240,000 for local travel and transport.

“We wish to bring to your notice that the agency has a staff strength of 1367 as of 2023 nominal roll in our possession and very few persons are selected for training.

“NMDPRA does not need beyond the sum of N200 million for its training locally, which is carried out in Abuja and Lagos.

“In a bizarre way of fleecing the nation, it budgeted another N3, 129,474,483 for the same local travel & transport (other). What is other?

“For international travel and transport, it budgeted N7,105,640,000 which is not only outrageous but very uncharitable to Nigerians who are still suffering from the hardship meted on it by subsidy removal, while few persons waste over N7 billion to fly abroad in the name of training.

“The agency went further to budget another N3, 892,608,000 for the same international travel & transport. What is N11 billion doing for international trip of less than twenty persons that will likely be sent there?

“The budget for training is not only corrupt, and duplicated but padded. In code number 220205, NMDPRA brazenly budgeted another N1,252,470,000 for local training and N4,889,600,000 for international training which is a total of N6,142,070,000.

“We will also be writing to the EFCC like we did with our petition on former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State which they are facing probe.”