The Senate Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday directed the external auditors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) to, within one week, provide a comprehensive breakdown of over ₦210 trillion captured in the company’s audited financial statements, insisting that they must defend the figures they certified.
The committee issued the directive during its ongoing investigation into NNPC Ltd.’s audited accounts, amid concerns over unresolved discrepancies involving about ₦107 trillion recorded as receivables and another ₦103 trillion listed as payables.
Lawmakers said repeated engagements with NNPC Ltd. had failed to produce satisfactory explanations for the transactions underlying the disputed figures, prompting the committee to demand accountability directly from the company’s external auditors.
Appearing before the panel, representatives of the audit firm requested additional time to retrieve schedules supporting the figures, explaining that the documents formed part of their audit working papers and that they might require about two weeks to produce them.
The request was rejected by the committee.
Chairman of the panel, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, faulted the auditors’ inability to immediately provide documentation backing figures already contained in audited financial statements.
According to him, every figure contained in an audited account must be supported by detailed schedules, stressing that auditors who certified the accounts should have such records readily available.
The auditors, however, argued that NNPC Ltd. remained their client and that explanations on the disputed entries should ordinarily come from the company. They also recalled that officials of the national oil company had previously undertaken to clarify the figures before the committee.
The lawmakers dismissed the argument.
Invoking Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, Senator Abdul Ningi maintained that the National Assembly has the constitutional authority to compel any individual or organisation to produce documents relevant to its investigations.
He insisted that the auditors were appearing before the committee in their independent professional capacity and could not withhold information on the grounds of client confidentiality.
Also speaking, Senator Adams Oshiomhole reminded the auditors that the disputed figures originated from the audit exercise they conducted, stressing that they must take responsibility for the audit opinions they issued.
He said the nationwide concerns over the financial statements arose directly from the auditors’ work and that they could not shift responsibility to NNPC Ltd.
Another lawmaker questioned the credibility of the audit process, arguing that the inability to produce supporting schedules raised serious concerns about whether the audit had been conducted in accordance with professional standards.
The committee further criticised the continued inability of both NNPC Ltd. and its auditors to reconcile the receivables and payables reflected in the audited accounts.
Dankwambo noted that although NNPC Ltd. had repeatedly claimed the figures largely related to joint venture cash calls and related payments, the company had yet to identify the specific transactions or counterparties involved.
The committee subsequently ordered the auditors to submit all supporting schedules and relevant documents within one week, warning that they would be held accountable for the figures contained in the audited financial statements they certified.