Reps committee to question NNPCL and INEC over N802bn audit queries

The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee will question officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Independent National Electoral Commission over alleged financial breaches exceeding N802.19bn, based on Auditor-General reports for 2021, 2022 and 2023. A committee member, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to speak for the panel, said accounting officers and subject-matter experts from both institutions were expected at the National Assembly. Other agencies are also scheduled to appear before the committee during its hearings.

The lawmaker said the Auditor-General’s 2021 report raised queries of about N514bn against the NNPCL, while INEC would be asked to clarify alleged breaches amounting to about N288.19bn in the 2022 audit report. The committee is empowered by Sections 85, 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution and the House Rules to examine public accounts and investigate revenue losses and regulatory breaches. According to the supplied findings, the NNPCL queries include alleged irregular deductions of N343.64bn from domestic crude-oil sales, N83.66bn allegedly held in a sinking-fund account and N82.95bn in alleged unauthorised deductions from Federation revenue.

A further N3.75bn was reportedly queried as a shortfall from petroleum-product sales. The lawmaker said INEC would answer questions about procurement, contractor payments and unremitted statutory deductions during the tenure of former chairman Mahmood Yakubu. The 2022 audit report also allegedly identified N5.31bn paid for smart-card readers for the 2019 general election without prior Bureau of Public Procurement approval.

The committee is expected to request documents and explanations from both institutions. An audit query is not a final finding of wrongdoing, and the affected agencies may respond before the committee reaches any conclusion. Efforts to obtain comments from committee chairman Bamidele Salam were unsuccessful.