The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has raised serious concerns over discrepancies in the audited financial statements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
During the investigative session on Wednesday, where the Chief Financial Officer, Dapo Segun, appeared before the committee, it discovered inconsistencies involving trillions of naira in NNPC’s audited financial statements from 2017 to 2023.
The committee, which has given NNPC’s finance team a list of 11 queries to answer within one week, flagged the absence of detailed records justifying massive legal and auditing fees.
“Legal fees were accrued without any explanation or documentation regarding the legal services rendered,” the panel noted.
”The auditors’ fees raise similar questions. There are no clear justifications. Everything we’ve seen and heard from the audited financial statements is troubling.”
Senator Wadada further stated that the main concern was with the receivables.
Receivables reportedly worth over N210 trillion between 2017 and 2023 were found to be contradictory.
Senator Aliyu Wadada further stated that “Trillions of naira are in question, and the new document they presented this afternoon doesn’t match what’s already in their audited report”.
Wadada emphasised that the matter would not be swept under the rug, highlighting the importance of transparency and accountability in public finance under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.
In a related development, Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, is set to appear before the Senate Ad-Hoc committee on Rivers State Emergency Rule to defend the state’s proposed N1.48 trillion expenditure for the 2025 fiscal year
