Missing $20BN: House Of Reps Give Okonjo-Iweala One-Week Ultimatum To Submit Forensic Audit Report

by Chukwu Obi

Nigeria’s House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has issued a one week ultimatum to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to submit the forensic audit report of the alleged missing $20 billion oil funds on behalf of the Federal Government.

The committee also blamed Okonjo- Iweala for the “faulty manner in which the forensic audit was commissioned to PricewaterHouseCoopers.”

The report “must include the Initial Draft Report, the Executive Summary and Management/Internal Control Letters”, says Chairman of the Committee, Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Lagos APC) .

Olamilekan said the “condensed version” of the report was released to the public through a press conference addressed by the Auditor-General of the Federation with the highlight that Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should remit a minimum of $1.48 billion to the Federation Account. He said this is what prompted the demand for complete report.

“Given the weighty allegation of possible loss of $20 billion to the Federation Account arising from alleged non-remittance by NNPC through the ministry of finance, it is curious that the forensic audit was commissioned and appointment of auditors was made by the minister of finance, an indictable official, if allegation is proven, without the involvement or at least input of the Auditor-General, whose office is eminently and exclusively empowered for the duty by the 1999 Constitution,” Olamilekan said.

He concluded that, “the report has been unduly delayed and its submission also side-stepped the Auditor-General. It is a professional best practice that such reports first come in draft, discussed, fine-tuned before the release of the final report, usually accompanied by the more detailed Management Letter.”