The Senate Public Accounts Committee has given the external auditors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) one week to provide documents explaining over N210 trillion recorded as receivables and payables in the company’s audited financial statements.
At a hearing on Wednesday, the committee directed the auditors to submit detailed schedules and audit working papers supporting about N107 trillion listed as receivables and N103 trillion recorded as payables.
The auditors had requested two weeks to retrieve the documents, saying the schedules formed part of their audit working papers. However, the committee rejected the request.
Committee chairman, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, questioned why auditors who had certified the accounts needed more time to produce documents backing the figures.
“If you already have the figures in your working papers, why do you need to go back before presenting them to this committee?” he asked.
The auditors argued that NNPC Ltd. remained their client and should explain the disputed figures. The committee disagreed, insisting the auditors were accountable for the opinions they issued.
Senator Abdul Ningi cited the Constitution, saying the National Assembly had the power to compel any individual or organisation to produce documents relevant to its investigations.
Senator Patrick Ndubueze also questioned the credibility of the audit, saying failure to provide supporting schedules would raise doubts about whether the audit was properly conducted.
The committee noted that previous explanations by NNPC officials linking the figures to joint venture transactions had failed to reconcile the accounts.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole said NNPC Ltd., as a government-owned company, could not hide behind commercial confidentiality to withhold information from parliament.
Dankwambo stressed that the committee was not alleging that the funds were missing, but said the combined N210 trillion remained unexplained and must be properly reconciled.
He directed the auditors to return within one week with the required documents.