The House of Representatives ad hoc committee on Joint Venture (JV) on Wednesday quizzed the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Ltd over alleged tax evasion.
Abubakar Fulata, the chairman of the ad hoc committee investigating the structure and accountability of JV business and production sharing contracts of the NNPC, said it was not out to witch-hunt anybody.
He added that it would be unfair for oil companies to evade taxes when the country was borrowing to fund the budget.
Mr Fulata said almost all the oil companies in the country had no Certificate of Acceptance of Fixed Assets (CAFA), yet they had been enjoying capital allowance claims violating the nation’s law.
The committee asked the representative of Agip if, in the course of operations, they had not short-changed the nation by way of profit tax and capital allowance.
The representatives of Agip, led by its general manager (public affairs) Barry Nwibani, said over the years, they relied only on Petroleum Tax Act for payment of taxes.
(NAN)
