N210tn Probe: Senate Gives NNPC Auditors One Week to Explain Financial Records

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has given the external auditors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) one week to provide a detailed breakdown of more than ₦210 trillion recorded in the company’s audited financial statements, as lawmakers intensified their probe of the oil firm’s accounts.

The directive was issued on Wednesday during the committee’s resumed hearing in Abuja as part of its ongoing review of NNPC’s audited financial statements for the 2017 to 2023 financial years. The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, said the auditors must submit schedules explaining the figures captured in the reports.

At the centre of the investigation are two major entries in the audited accounts — ₦107 trillion classified as receivables and ₦103 trillion recorded as payables. When committee members requested detailed schedules supporting the figures, representatives of the audit firm asked for two weeks to prepare their submission.

The request was rejected by the lawmakers, who insisted that the auditors should already have the relevant documentation in their working papers. Dankwambo said every figure contained in audited financial statements must be backed by supporting schedules, questioning why the auditors needed additional time if the records were readily available.

The auditors, however, argued that under professional practice, the details requested should come from NNPC as their client. The explanation was dismissed by the committee, which maintained that independent auditors are accountable for the figures contained in the audited reports.

Senator Abdul Ningi cited Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), stressing that the National Assembly has the constitutional authority to summon any individual and demand documents relevant to its investigation. He insisted that the auditors could not rely on their client’s approval before complying with a lawful request from Parliament.

Also speaking, Senator Adams Oshiomhole said the issues under investigation arose directly from the auditors’ work, noting that they had a responsibility to explain the financial statements they certified. According to him, the auditors could not evade questions by referring the committee back to NNPC.

The committee also expressed concern over the inability of both NNPC and its auditors to reconcile the receivables and payables. Dankwambo noted that while company officials had repeatedly claimed the figures related largely to joint venture cash calls and payments, they had failed to identify the individual transactions or counterparties involved.

He explained that if the amounts truly represented joint venture obligations, the company should be able to clearly identify the parties involved and reconcile the transactions. He added that the committee was not alleging that the funds were missing but was concerned that financial figures of such magnitude remained unexplained in audited accounts.

Following the deliberations, the committee gave the external auditors one week to submit the requested breakdown of the ₦210 trillion entries and directed them to return with the necessary documentation to support their audit reports.