The president Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government has finally initiated plans to enlist the services of an external auditor to verify the N2.7tn fuel subsidy claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) against the government.
The yet-to-be-named auditor will help the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation determine the actual amount due by the government.
This development occurs five months after the concept was submitted at the monthly Federation Allocation Accounts Committee meeting in April 2024.
NNPC reported an outstanding of N6tn, which was lowered to N2.7tn following an initial audit by KPMG.
Although Ali Mohammed, Director of Home Finance at the Ministry of Finance, has always presented updates at FAAC meetings, the most recent development for an external auditor suggests that no tangible steps have been taken to audit the claim.
On May 30, 2023, a few hours after President Bola Tinubu’s “subsidy is gone” remark, Mele Kyari, the NNPC Group CEO, told State House correspondents that the Federal Government still owed the corporation the sum of N2.8 trillion spent on petrol subsidies.
While claiming that the NNPC paid for petrol subsidies out of its own cash flow, Kyari stated that the government had yet to repay the N2.8 trillion.
He said, “Since the provision of the N6tn in 2022 and the N3.7tn in 2023, we have not received any payment from the Federation.
“That means they (the Federal Government) are unable to pay, and we’ve continued to support this subsidy from the cash flow of the NNPC. We are waiting for them to settle up to N2.8tn of NNPC’s cash flow from the subsidy regime, and we can’t continue to build this.”
A copy of the minutes of the most recent FAAC meeting obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday indicated that the finance ministry’s procurement section has begun the process of selecting an external auditor.
The minute read, “On the forensic audit covering the period 2015 to 2021 to authenticate NNPC/Federation Claims in Respect of N2.7tn withheld by NNPC Limited:
“The Director of Home Finance reported that the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation was still working on the matter, adding that the Procurement Department of the Ministry had also put structures in place for the engagement of an external auditor, who would assist OAuGF to carry out the assignment.”
Commenting on the issue, the Chairman of the Commissioners’ Forum/HCF, Ekiti State, advised that the audit review time be extended to December 2023, given that the procedure had not yet begun.
