Former President John Dramani Mahama is asking the Ken Ofori Atta-led Finance Ministry to as a matter of urgency repatriate the alleged $100 million missing oil money under the ruling government.
Describing the development as “most disconcerting” the former president said the supposed $100 million was diverted from petroleum funds for unapproved expenditure.
His calls follow a justification given by the Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament, Samuel Atta Akyea that no $100 million oil money due Ghana is missing as claimed by the opposition NDC.
According to the Abuakwa South Member of Parliament, the money was used to settle upfront, a loan taken from the ministry of finance by GNPC Subsidiaries, to acquire a seven per cent stake in the TEN and Jubilee oil fields on behalf of the state.
He pointed out that although administrative processes may not have followed due process in terms of lodging the money in the Petroleum Holding Fund (PHF), no harm was done to the state by the upfront payment of the loan taken by GNPC Subsidiaries using that quantum of petroleum receipts.
His comment was in response to a claim made by the minority caucus in parliament about the supposed missing money and subsequent demand for accountability.
But in a Facebook post, John Dramani Mahama said Section 3 of the PRMA (Act 815) is explicit that all Petroleum revenue due the state derived from whatever source shall be assessed, collected, and accounted for by the Ghana Revenue Authority.
He continued by quoting Section (15) of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Act (Act 919), stating that;
“Any borrowing exceeding the cedi equivalent of thirty million United States Dollars for the purpose of exploration, development, and production shall be approved by Parliament and shall be in consonance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act.”
Against this background, the former president said there can be no justification for diverting revenues accruing from the nation’s share of petroleum resources into any other account aside from the PHF.
He is on that note urging the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori Atta to recover all such illegal payments back into the PHF.
