Audit report indicts NNPC, says corporation to refund $1.48bn

The audit ordered by the federal government into the books of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) indicted the management of the corporation financial infractions totaling $1.48 billion (about N247.2 billion). The forensic audit was carried out by PriceWaterHouseCoopers, an audit firm on behalf of the Federal Government. Part of the recommendations of the report […]

The audit ordered by the federal government into the books of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) indicted the management of the corporation financial infractions totaling $1.48 billion (about N247.2 billion).

The forensic audit was carried out by PriceWaterHouseCoopers, an audit firm on behalf of the Federal Government.

Part of the recommendations of the report say the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) which is the upstream subsidiary of the NNPC should refund about $1.48billion to the Federation Account for various unreconciled transactions.

It said the NPDC was yet to pay $2.2 billion signature bonus to the federal government.

President Goodluck Jonathan had on Monday received the report a day after a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Chukwuma Soludo, wrote a long, acerbic article accusing the managers of the Nigerian economy of misappropriating over N30 trillion of public funds, including several billions in oil money.

The forensic audit was commissioned by President Jonathan following allegation by the immediate past Governor of the CBN Lamido Sanusi that about $20 billion oil money was missing from the NNPC.

The allegation that the huge amount had been stolen was raised in 2013 by a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano.

Sanusi said as much as $49 billion was diverted by state oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

He later reviewed the amount to $20 billion, and called for investigations after writing to President Goodluck Jonathan.

A Senate probe into the allegation yielded no result. Mr. Sanusi was later fired by President Jonathan after he was accused of “financial recklessness”.

The government said no money was missing, but promised a forensic investigation of NNPC.

In April 2014, the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, announced the appointment of the accounting firm, PriceWaterHouseCoopers (PwC), to conduct a detailed investigation into the accounts and activities of NNPC