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$20bn Missing Funds: Finance Minister, Okonjo Iweala Calls For Independent Audit

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Credit: Businessday

Credit: Businessday

Appearing before the Senate Committee on Finance Thursday, the Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has asked members of the Senate to invite independent auditors.

The statement by the Finance Minister is in reaction to the statements credited to the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi alleging non-remittance of funds by the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission, NNPC.

At the investigative hearing by the Senate Committee on Finance, Okonjo-Iweala said, “The budget under the control of the Ministry of Finance is laid out transparently online and has been accessible to all Nigerians and they have been criticizing it.
She said the Ministry of Finance chairs a process that reconciles the accounts, and all the Commissioners of Finance in the country have a folder that shows exactly what has been done.

She continued, “It is because of that reconciliation that we came to the amount of 10.8billion that everybody is now talking about. When the Central Bank mentioned 49.8billion, we were the first to say we did not think this amount is correct and you can ask the CBN Governor, he is right here.

“After we had done that work, it was proven that 49.8billion is not the right amount and he had the courage to accept that. Without the steady work we have done to account for the resources of this country, we will not be talking about 10.8billion.”

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