Senate Gives NNPC Auditors One Week to Explain N210trn
The Senate Public Accounts Committee has ordered the external auditors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to explain over 210 trillion Naira in unreconciled accounts. Lawmakers gave the independent audit firms exactly seven days to defend the financial statements they certified. The sheer scale of the unexplained figures threatens to overshadow the state oil company’s recent claims of profitability. Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, who chairs the committee, delivered the ultimatum during a tense public hearing on Wednesday. Lawmakers refused to tolerate further delays from the professionals who signed off on the books. Accountancy must mean accountability.
The dispute centres on massive ledger entries of 107 trillion Naira in receivables and 103 trillion Naira in payables. When lawmakers asked for the supporting paperwork, the auditors pleaded for a two-week extension to retrieve their files. The committee rejected this request with visible annoyance. Dankwambo argued that professionals should have immediate access to the documents that support their formal opinions. If the working papers exist, the files should be in the room. This delay raises uncomfortable questions.
The auditors tried to push the responsibility back onto their client. They argued that officials of the oil firm should explain the transactions. Lawmakers quickly shut down this attempt to shift the blame. Parliament summons auditors to hear an independent assessment, not a corporate echo chamber. Senator Adams Oshiomhole reminded the professionals that the public alarm arose directly from their signed reports. Auditors cannot distance themselves from their own signatures.
The state oil firm has long blamed these massive discrepancies on complex joint venture cash calls. However, neither the firm nor its auditors can identify the individual transactions or counterparties behind the numbers. This administrative fog has historically protected questionable deals from public scrutiny. The Senate does not yet claim that the money is missing. They simply observe that no one can explain where it went. Transparency requires names, dates, and bank receipts.
Dankwambo drew a grim parallel to the famous corporate collapse of Enron and its auditor, Arthur Andersen. He warned that auditing firms destroy their own credibility when they fail to defend their work. The committee dismissed the auditors’ attempts to hide behind corporate confidentiality. The oil firm belongs to the Nigerian public, not a private family. Parliament has a constitutional duty to track every public kobo. Professional silence is no longer an option.
This confrontation highlights the deep rot in the financial management of Nigeria’s oil wealth. The state firm operates like a sovereign entity above the law. Lawmakers now seek to break this culture of official silence. The coming week will test the spine of both the auditors and their corporate masters. The public awaits the next chapter of this financial drama. The truth cannot stay hidden forever.