Senate Gives NNPCL Auditors Seven Days to Justify ₦210 Trillion Questioned Transactions

…Public Accounts Committee rejects auditors’ defence, insists firms that certified accounts must explain disputed figures

By Pan Afric Reporters

The Senate Public Accounts Committee has given external auditors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) a seven-day deadline to account for more than ₦210 trillion in questioned transactions contained in the company’s audited financial statements, insisting that auditors who certified the accounts must take responsibility for defending them.

The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, issued the ultimatum after a heated investigative session in which lawmakers dismissed repeated attempts by the audit firms to shift responsibility for explaining the figures to the management of NNPCL.

The controversy centres on ₦107 trillion recorded as receivables and ₦103 trillion listed as payables in the company’s audited financial statements, figures the committee said remain unsupported by the detailed schedules required to establish their authenticity.

Lawmakers expressed concern that neither the NNPCL nor its external auditors had provided documentation identifying the transactions, counterparties and calculations that produced the disputed figures.

In response, the auditors told the committee that the supporting schedules formed part of their audit working papers and requested about two weeks to retrieve the relevant documents.

The request was, however, rejected by the committee.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Dankwambo, questioned why audit firms that had certified the financial statements were unable to immediately present documents supporting the figures they approved.

“When you have figures in audited financial statements, there must be schedules showing exactly how those figures were derived. If those schedules already exist in your working papers, why do you need additional time before presenting them to this committee?” Dankwambo asked.

The auditors maintained that the NNPCL remained their client and argued that detailed explanations should ordinarily come from the company, recalling that lawmakers had previously agreed that NNPCL officials would clarify the figures.

Their position, however, drew strong objections from members of the committee, who insisted that auditors who signed off on the financial statements could not distance themselves from the contents of the reports.

The lawmakers further rejected suggestions that the company could rely on commercial confidentiality to withhold information from the National Assembly.

According to the committee, the NNPCL, being wholly owned by the Federal Government on behalf of Nigerians, is fully accountable to Parliament.

“NNPCL belongs to the Nigerian people, not to private shareholders. Parliament has every constitutional right to examine its accounts, and no confidentiality agreement can override that responsibility,” one member of the committee stated during the session.

Following the exchanges, the committee discharged the auditors and directed them to return within one week with comprehensive schedules and documentary evidence explaining the ₦210 trillion in questioned receivables and payables contained in the audited accounts. The lawmakers warned that the investigation would continue until full accountability is established.