The Executive Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service, NRS, Zacch Adedeji, has dismissed reports alleging a $279 million fraud in the Frontier Exploration Fund.
A report had claimed that the sum was transferred from the Fund’s account to unnamed accounts, and that Adedeji and the NRS were aware of the “illegal” movement.
It further alleged that the development had put Adedeji under pressure, with stakeholders calling for a forensic audit of the Fund’s account.
Responding, Adedeji described the report as false and sponsored.
“That report is not true in any way. It is pure fake news sponsored by some jobless persons whose pastime is to throw mud at high performers in the President Tinubu government,” he said.
“I consider it to be a brand of cheap journalism lacking in ethics and professionalism but heavy with malicious intentions.
“To prove to you that it was sponsored, take a critical look at the storyline and language. They are the same language and style in all the reports, meaning that one person wrote it and distributed across gullible online platforms,” Adedeji said.
He said that the sponsors of the report exhibited lack of understanding on what the Frontier Fund was all about and how it is disbursed.
According to him, the Frontier Exploration Fund was established under Section 9 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021 and was meant to finance petroleum exploration activities in frontier basins where commercially viable hydrocarbon reserves are yet to be fully established,
The frontier basins include Bida, Benue Trough, Anambra, Chad, Sokoto and Dahomey Basins. The Fund is to used for expenses in geological mapping, seismic surveys, exploratory drilling, appraisal wells, basin studies and other exploration activities.
