The Senate, has again, issued a 10-day ultimatum to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to respond to 11 critical financial queries related to discrepancies in its audited financial statements. It warned that failure to comply could attract serious constitutional consequences.
The Upper legislative chamber issued the ultimatum, which will expire on July 10, after NNPCL on Thursday formally requested a two-month extension to respond to the queries, a request the committee flatly rejected.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, SDP, Nasarawa West, had at a resumed hearing on Wednesday, rejected a written request from the NNPCL seeking a two-month extension to compile responses and documents.
The lawmakers, recently, expressed dissatisfaction over what they described as mind-boggling and unacceptable, financial irregularities uncovered in NNPCL’s books, including over 200 trillion naira in unexplained receivables and undocumented legal and audit fees spanning the years 2017 to 2023.
Wadada said, “It is unacceptable. We have given them 10 working days. This committee will not tolerate delay tactics in matters concerning public funds.”
He warned that should the NNPCL boss fail to respond, the Senate would be compelled to invoke its constitutional oversight powers.
“Any attempt to disregard this committee’s directive will amount to contempt of the Senate. We are here to protect public funds, and we will not be deterred,” he said.
“This committee is not expecting any documents from the NNPCL. We were expecting answers to the 11 questions we asked them.
The lawmaker also lamented the absence of NNPCL’s external auditors at the hearing, underscoring the need for transparency and accountability.
“Why should a corporate body like the NNPCL request for two months to respond to queries that emanated from their own internal audit? They are given 10 working days, which will be the 10th of July, to provide answers. If by that date they do not respond accordingly, all the powers of the Senate will be invoked to compel appearance.”
The session was attended by representatives from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the Department of States Services (DSS) and other key stakeholders who served as witnesses to the proceedings.
The Committee had last week, expressed outrage over what it described as mind-boggling and unacceptable, financial irregularities uncovered in NNPC’s books, including over 200 trillion naira in unexplained receivables and undocumented legal and audit fees spanning the years 2017 to 2023.
The disputed figures, comprising ₦103 trillion in “accrued expenses” and another ₦107 trillion listed as “receivables” were uncovered during the committee’s review of NNPCL’s financial records from 2017 to 2023.
The committee had raised questions about inconsistencies in NNPCL’s accounts, including a notable case where a subsidiary, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), reported N9 trillion in profit between 2017 and 2021, while the parent company recorded a loss of N16 billion in the same period.
