The Senate Public Accounts Committee has given the external auditors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) one week to produce documents explaining more than ₦210 trillion recorded as receivables and payables in the company's audited financial statements, insisting that figures of such magnitude cannot remain unreconciled after being certified by independent auditors.
The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, directed the auditors to submit detailed schedules and audit working papers supporting about ₦107 trillion listed as receivables and ₦103 trillion recorded as payables. The order followed the auditors' request for two weeks to retrieve the documents, a request the lawmakers rejected.
“When you have figures in the financial statements, there must be supporting schedules showing how those figures were arrived at. If you already have them in your working papers, why do you need to go back before presenting them to this committee?” Dankwambo asked.
The auditors argued that NNPC Ltd. remained their client and that explanations on the disputed figures should ordinarily come from the company. The committee dismissed the argument, maintaining that the auditors appeared before the Senate in their independent professional capacity and were accountable for the audit opinions they had issued.
“The Constitution empowers this committee to invite any person and request any document necessary for our investigation. You are before this committee as independent auditors. Do not tell us you must first seek permission from your client before complying with the lawful request of Parliament,” Senator Abdul Ningi said, citing Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution.
Lawmakers also questioned the credibility of the audit exercise, with Senator Patrick Ndubueze warning that the inability to immediately produce supporting schedules cast doubt on the work carried out.
“If you cannot produce the detailed schedules supporting these figures, then it raises serious questions about whether the audit work was actually done. If it was done, the supporting documentation should already exist. We believe 48 hours should be sufficient, but certainly not an indefinite period,” he said.
The committee further noted that despite previous appearances by NNPC Ltd. officials, the huge receivables and payables remained unreconciled. Dankwambo said the company had repeatedly attributed the figures to joint venture cash calls and payments without identifying the specific transactions or counterparties involved.
“We have repeatedly been told these amounts relate to joint venture cash calls and joint venture payments. If that is the case, the company should be able to identify whose receivables and whose payables they are and reconcile them accordingly. We are not saying the money is missing. We are saying the figures remain unexplained. For amounts of this magnitude to remain unreconciled in audited financial statements is deeply concerning,” he said.
The committee also rejected the auditors' reliance on confidentiality obligations. Senator Adams Oshiomhole argued that NNPC Ltd., being wholly owned by the Federal Government, could not shield information from Parliament under the guise of commercial confidentiality.
“NNPC is not a private family business. It belongs to the Nigerian people. We represent those people, and we are entitled to know how every kobo is accounted for. There can be no secrecy between an auditor and a wholly government-owned company when Parliament is carrying out a constitutional investigation,” Oshiomhole said.
The committee subsequently directed the auditors to return within one week with comprehensive schedules detailing the composition of the ₦107 trillion receivables and ₦103 trillion payables, together with the basis upon which the figures were certified. Lawmakers maintained that they had not alleged any funds were missing but insisted that the combined ₦210 trillion remained unexplained and must be fully reconciled.