The Nigerian government is set to hire an external auditor to review the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) N2.7 trillion fuel subsidy claim.
According to minutes from the Federal Allocation Account Committee, the auditor will support the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation in verifying the actual amount owed by the government.
The minutes note that the forensic audit will cover the period from 2015 to 2021 to verify NNPC claims of N2.7 trillion withheld by NNPC Limited.
The Director of Home Finance stated that the Office of the Auditor-General is working on the matter and that the Ministry’s Procurement Department has set up measures to engage an external auditor for the task.
The Chairman of the Commissioners’ Forum from Ekiti State suggested extending the audit period to December 2023, noting that the review has yet to begin. This proposal comes four months after the idea was initially discussed at the Federation Allocation Accounts Committee meeting in April 2024.
NNPCL originally claimed N6 trillion, but this was reduced to N2.7 trillion following an initial audit by KPMG. The new audit will cover the period from 2015 to 2021.
This development follows the announcement by the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, on May 30, 2023, that the government still owed the company N2.8 trillion for the fuel subsidy, funded from the company’s cash flow.
Kyari explained that despite a provision of N6 trillion in 2022 and N3.7 trillion in 2023, the government has yet to repay the amount, and the NNPCL cannot continue to cover the subsidy costs indefinitely.
