PLANNED AUDIT OF NNPCL ACCOUNTS BY TINUBU GOVERNMENT

Babatunji Wusu –

A planned audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) accounts has been alluded to by Wale Edun, the minister of finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy.

At the most recent World Bank Nigeria Development Update’s publication in Abuja on Wednesday, Edun disclosed this.

According to Edun, despite the previous two finance ministers’ suggestions, nothing was done about the audit of the national oil corporation.

Underscoring the government’s desire to guarantee revenue inflows from the corporation, the minister insisted on a thorough examination of the NNPCL.

He said, “There will be earnest scrutiny, and I am sure NNPCL is getting ready for that. We want revenue to come into the government coffers from NNPC and all other revenue agencies.

“The last two ministers of Finance, namely, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, publicly said that the accounts of the NNPCL would be looked into, but there has been no report of such audit made public.”

According to a recent World Bank assessment, the Nigerian National Petroleum Commissions Limited (NNCPL) and the administration of President Bola Tinubu are not being upfront about the money they make from oil and the money they make from the recent elimination of fuel subsidies.

The bank stated that although increases in oil revenue have been evident since June, there has been a lack of openness on oil revenue, particularly the NNPC’s financial advantages from the recent removal of gasoline subsidy, in its most current Nigerian Development Update, which was made public on Wednesday.

In October, the federal government declared that Nigeria was now producing roughly 1.7 million barrels of oil per day.

From the 1.1 million barrels per day reported in August 2023, the figure increased by six million barrels per day.