Jonathan receives NNPC audit report on ‘missing’ fund

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday received
the report of forensic auditors engaged to carry out
a detailed investigation into the activities of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
An accounting firm, PriceWaterHouse, was in
March, 2014 hired to carry out the exercise
following an allegation by the former Governor of
the Central Bank of Nigeria, Lamido Sanusi, that $
20bn was not remitted to the Federation Account
by the NNPC.
Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano, had written a
letter to Jonathan that $49bbn was not remitted to
the Federation Account by the NNPC.
But following the controversy which the letter
generated, a committee was set up to reconcile the
account.
Sanusi later said the unremitted fund was $12bn.
He later again changed the figure to $20bn.
The Nigeria Country Senior Partner of
PriceWaterHouse, Uyi Akpata, on Monday
presented the report to the President on behalf of
the firm, saying, “It is a privilege for us to have
carried out this exercise on behalf of the
government and I hope that you will find this report
useful.”
Akpata did not give any insight into the forensic
report.
In accepting the report, however, Jonathan noted
that the media and indeed Nigeria would be
interested in the findings.
To this end, he directed the Auditor-General of the
Federation to study the report and make the key
highlights public within the week.
He said,”There has been so much of controversy
over this NNPC and leakages or no leakages. I
remember the Senate has also looked into it; it is
also good that you professionals have also looked
into it.
“What appears in the papers and the speculation is
also very high, the figures that I cannot even
imagine the country will make are being bandied in
the newspapers.
“So, I am quite pleased that you have undertaken
the forensic audit. Though it is voluminous, I will
give it to the professionals.
“In government work, there are people that have
the statutory responsibilities to handle such
assignment, which is the Auditor-General of the
Federation.
“So the Auditor-General will look at it and within
the week, let us have key highlights because the
media will want to know the key findings vis-a-vis
the Senate’s findings and figures being bandied
around in the newspapers. Nigerians are
interested.”
The President admitted that the nation’s petroleum
sector needed to be reformed.
He expressed the hope that most of the lapses
being noticed in the sector would be corrected by
the time the Petroleum Industry Bill was passed
into law.
While promising to handle the report decisively,
Jonathan expressed the belief that the forensic
report would help the nation move forward.
The President said, “Nigerians don’t need to be
scared, this is something that Nigerians are
interested in. They (the audit firm) wanted to
submit an interim report, but I said no, they must
conclude this matter, because it is a forensic audit
and there is no room for interim report so they
must go back and conclude it and luckily they
have concluded it.
“I hope we will not call them back, but where need
be, we will call them back if there are issues that
are not so clear, but we are happy with what we
have done so far.
“I assure you that this is a precious document that
the Accountant-General will keep and I will have
my own copy, because even if I leave office,
maybe when I write my memoir, I will use some
part of it.
“But the kind of figure people bandy in the papers
look so ridiculous.”