A significant report from the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation has flagged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited for an allegedly unjustified expenditure of £14.29 million on the latter’s office sitting in London, United Kingdom in 2021.
The revelation, contained in the 2022 audit report submitted to the National Assembly, alleged financial irregularities and a failure of due process. According to the Auditor-General, the state oil company provided inadequate documentation to support the massive spending.
The audit query criticized the NNPC for paying £14.29 million to a management services contractor for the UK office over several years without satisfactory proof of work done. The report argued that such spending details, such as evidence of service delivery, contract terms, and approvals, were not presented for scrutiny.
This lapse, the Auditor-General contended, translated into a violation of the nation’s financial regulations and represented a potential misuse of public funds. The report therefore demanded that the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC should account for the expenditure and recover the funds if the payments cannot be justified.
The transaction, the report noted, contravenes Paragraph 112 of the Financial Regulations (FR) (2009), which states: “The functions of the Accounting Officer shall include: …(i) ensuring internal guides, rules, regulations, procedures are adequately provided for the security and effective check on the assessment, collection and accounting for revenue.”
Furthermore, Paragraph 415 of the FR (2009) states: “The Federal Government requires all officers responsible for expenditure to exercise due economy. Money must not be spent merely because it has been voted on.”
Similarly, Paragraph 603(1) of the FR (2009) states: “All vouchers shall contain full particulars of each service such as dates, numbers, quantities, distances and rates, to enable them to be checked without reference to any other documents and will invariably be supported by relevant documents such as local purchase orders, invoices, special letters of authority, time sheets, etc.”
The NNPC management has responded to the audit team, justifying the allegation that the London office operates as a service unit within NNPC and, like all other service units, has an annual budget.
It further added that the London office maintained detailed records of all transactions, including supporting documents for personnel costs, fixed contracts, and other operational expenditures — a response regarded as unsatisfactory according to the audit team.
The disclosure reignited the ongoing concerns about transparency and fiscal accountability within Nigeria’s critical petroleum sector.
Recall that the National Assembly’s Public Accounts Committees summoned NNPC officials to provide explanations regarding over N210 trillion allegedly unaccounted for in its audited financial statements between 2017 and 2023, which the management just sent a written explanation last week after being summoned four times by the Senate Committee.