Missing $20bn: Independent Auditors Will Submit Their Findings Next Week

The independent experts appointed by the Senate committee on finance to conduct a forensic audit of the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will submit their report next week.

NNPC headquarters

This information was disclosed on Thursday. by the chairman of the committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi (PDP, Kaduna).

On Wednesday President Goodluck Jonathan authorized a forensic audit of the NNPC accounts over allegations of under-remitted $20bn.

But Senate president David Mark approved the hiring of the forensic experts to carry out a forensic audit on only $2.1bn which was the third party financing as the Senate lacked financial resources to hire experts to audit the entire account of the NNPC.
"We expect their [auditors'] report by the end of next week. And their independent report is what will make us form an opinion on the expenses and losses," Makarfi said.
He noted that although the Ministry of Finance has the resources to hire forensic experts, is not legally and constitutionally allowed to do so.

The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday expressed support of the NNPC audit.
The Senate committee has also given the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) two weeks to submit details on certification of subsidy for kerosene and fuel from July 2013 to December 2013.

Makarfi also said that the Auditor-General of the Federation had written formally to the Senate committee confirming he was conducting "forensic checks" on the NNPC accounts.

The NNPC Managing Director, Andrew Yakubu, kept insisting that no money was missing.

Iy will be recalled, that last month the former governor of the Central Bank Sanusi Lamido Sanusi presented evidence that he said showed that NNPC failed to remit $20bn of oil revenue to the Federation Account.
NNPC: "Third parties confirm NNPC’s remittances"

Also on Thursday, NNPC said in a press statement that at the sitting of the committee on Thursday all the three institutions summoned by the committee confirmed NNPC’s claim of remittances to the Federation Account and third parties.