• Insists external auditors must defend figures they certified, not defer to NNPC
• Lawmakers reject confidentiality claim, invoke constitutional oversight powers
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The Senate Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday issued a one-week ultimatum to the external auditors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) to provide a comprehensive breakdown of more than N210 trillion recorded as receivables and payables in the company’s audited financial statements, insisting that the figures remain unexplained and cannot be left unreconciled.
The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, ruled that the auditors must produce the schedules, working papers and supporting documentation used in certifying the accounts, stressing that they could not shift responsibility to NNPC after endorsing the financial statements.
