By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS
Nigeria's President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to investigation a claim that a whopping $20 billion of oil revenues were not remitted to government account by the state-owned Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
"You all know what the Emir of Kano talked about when he was the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria," Buhari told some politicians who visited him in capital Abuja on Sunday.
"He said $20 billion dollars, not naira, were unaccounted for; they [the government] said it was a lie. Instead of investigating it, they sacked him," Buhari recalled.
"And since this was documented, the new administration will take a look at it," he vowed.
In 2013, former central bank governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi claimed that up to $20 billion oil revenues were never remitted to the government purse, a claim that the NNPC denied at the time.
Sanusi was removed from office shortly after under circumstances observers say was vindictive and meant to silent him.
He has since been crowned the Emir of Kano, the second most powerful monarch in Nigeria's northern region after the Sultan of Sokoto, who is considered the leader of Nigerian Muslims.
An audit sponsored by the government later said that $1.48 billion were not remitted.
Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke said last week that the NNPC - which is under her control - has started refunding the missing fund into the government account.
Buhari defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential election.
The former military ruler, who contested the vote promising to battle corruption and restore public confidence in government, will be sworn in on May 29 in line with a tradition that dates back to 1999, when the military handed power over to a civilian administration after decades of military rule.
