Auditors Search NNPC’s Finances for Missing $20bn

A team of 20 auditors have started combing through the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in search of the $20bn (N3.2trillion) of missing oil revenues.

The Auditor General of the Federation Samuel Ukura, who appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts in Abuja, said the auditors had received specialised training on oil and gas accounts examinations in order to adequately determine the whereabouts of the funds that was unremitted to the Federation Account.

"We had a budget of N60 million for training and we were able to train 20 officers who are presently on the field auditing the accounts of the NNPC," he said.

The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had revealed that the NNPC had failed to remit the trillions in naira of oil resources it exported on behalf of some partners and government agencies.

Since then the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and many Nigerians have been calling for an independent probe of NNPC's accounts.