Fuel Subsidy: Nigerian Govt to engage external auditor on NNPCL N2.7tn claim

The Nigerian government has announced plans to engage an external auditor to audit the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s N2.7 trillion fuel subsidy claim.

This is according to recent minutes of the Federal Allocation Account Committee seen by DAILY POST on Tuesday.

The minutes stated that the yet-to-be-named auditor would assist the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation in determining the real amount owed by the government.

The minutes 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 Office of the Audit General of the Federation, OAuGF to carry out the assignment.”

Commenting on the issue, the Chairman of Commissioners’ Forum/HCF, Ekiti State, suggested the need to extend the period of the audit review to December 2023, considering that the exercise was yet to commence.

This move comes four months after the plan was proposed at the monthly Federation Allocation Accounts Committee meeting in April 2024.

NNPCL claimed an outstanding of N6 trillion, it was reduced to N2.7tn after an initial audit by an audit firm, KPMG.

The latest audit move would span from 2015 to 2021.

Recall that on May 30, 2023, a few hours after the “subsidy is gone” declaration by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, told State House correspondents that the Federal Government still owed the firm the sum of N2.8 trillion spent on petrol subsidy.

The NNPCL boss noted that the firm footed petrol subsidy bills from its cash flow.

Kyari said the government had so far been unable to pay back the N2.8tn.

He said, “Since the provision of the N6tn in 2022 and 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.”