Senate Gives NNPC Auditors One Week To Explain ₦210tn Accounts

The Senate Public Accounts Committee has given external auditors of NNPC Limited one week to produce documents explaining more than ₦210 trillion listed in the company’s audited financial statements.

The figures cover about ₦107 trillion recorded as receivables and ₦103 trillion recorded as payables. The committee asked the auditors to return with detailed schedules and audit working papers backing the entries.

The auditors had asked for two weeks to retrieve the documents, saying the schedules were part of their working papers. The committee rejected the request and questioned why auditors who certified the accounts needed more time to produce the records behind them.

Committee chairman Ibrahim Dankwambo said the lawmakers were not alleging that the money was missing, but that the combined ₦210 trillion remained unexplained and had to be reconciled.

The auditors argued that NNPC Limited remained their client and should explain the disputed figures. Senators disagreed, saying the auditors were responsible for the audit opinions they issued.

Senator Abdul Ningi cited the National Assembly’s constitutional power to compel people and organisations to provide documents for investigations. Senator Patrick Ndubueze also warned that failure to present supporting schedules would raise questions about the audit process.

The committee said earlier explanations from NNPC officials, including references to joint venture transactions, had not settled the accounting questions.

Senator Adams Oshiomhole said NNPC Limited could not rely on commercial confidentiality to avoid parliamentary scrutiny because it is a government-owned company.

The auditors are expected to return within one week with the documents requested by the committee.

Source: Daily Trust