Senate Orders NNPC Auditors to Account for ₦210tn Entries in Financial Statements
Fresh scrutiny has been placed on the audited financial records of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), with the Senate Committee on Public Accounts demanding explanations for financial entries exceeding ₦210 trillion.
At a committee session held on Wednesday, lawmakers directed the company’s external auditors to return within seven days with documents explaining how the figures were calculated and verified during the audit of NNPC’s accounts covering the 2017 to 2023 financial years.
The committee’s concerns centre on about ₦107 trillion recorded as receivables and another ₦103 trillion listed as payables in the audited statements. Senators requested detailed schedules and supporting documents showing the basis for the entries.
Representatives of the audit firm asked for an additional two weeks to assemble the requested records.
However, Committee Chairman, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, declined the request, saying the documents should already exist since they formed the basis of the audited financial statements.
Dankwambo maintained that every figure contained in an audited report must be backed by verifiable records and should be readily available whenever required by the legislature.
The auditors, in their response, argued that the information being sought should come directly from NNPC because the company was their client.
Members of the committee rejected the position, insisting that external auditors have an independent responsibility to explain and defend figures contained in reports they have certified.
Senator Abdul Ningi reminded the auditors that the National Assembly is constitutionally empowered to request documents relevant to its investigations, stressing that client confidentiality could not be used as a reason to withhold information from the committee.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole also faulted the auditors’ position, noting that the disputed figures originated from their audit work and that they were therefore expected to explain the procedures used to verify them.
Lawmakers further criticised both NNPC and its auditors for failing to reconcile the questioned amounts.
Although company officials had repeatedly linked the entries to joint venture cash calls and related obligations, the committee said it had yet to receive a detailed breakdown identifying the transactions and parties involved.
Dankwambo clarified that the committee was not alleging that the money was missing. Rather, he said lawmakers were seeking a clear and satisfactory explanation for the huge receivables and payables reflected in the audited accounts.
The committee subsequently directed the auditors to appear before it within one week with the requested documentation as its investigation into the company’s financial records continues.
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