The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee is set to question officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Independent National Electoral Commission over alleged financial breaches totalling N802.19bn.
The allegations are contained in Auditor-General for the Federation reports covering the 2021, 2022 and 2023 financial years. The reports raised concerns over procurement, revenue management, payments and compliance with financial regulations.
According to the committee, the NNPCL faces audit queries of about N514bn, while INEC is expected to explain alleged breaches amounting to N288.19bn.
For the NNPCL, the queries reportedly include N343.64bn in alleged irregular deductions from domestic crude oil sales, N83.66bn allegedly kept in a sinking fund account and N82.95bn in alleged unauthorised deductions from Federation revenue.
The company was also queried over a reported N3.75bn shortfall from the sale of petroleum products.
INEC, meanwhile, is expected to respond to questions concerning procurement processes, payments to contractors and failure to remit statutory deductions. The queries cover transactions during the tenure of former INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu.
The Auditor-General’s 2022 report also questioned the payment of more than N5.31bn for smart card readers used during the 2019 general election without prior approval from the Bureau of Public Procurement.
The committee stressed that the audit queries do not by themselves establish wrongdoing, as the affected agencies have the opportunity to provide documents and explanations.
The hearings are part of the constitutional responsibility of the Public Accounts Committee to examine public expenditure and ensure accountability.
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