KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee will on Monday and Tuesday question NNPCL and INEC officials over audit queries totalling more than ₦802.19 billion.
- Reports of the Auditor-General for the Federation for the 2021, 2022 and 2023 financial years raised alleged breaches in procurement, revenue handling, remittances and financial rules.
- Committee chair, Rep Bamidele Salam, expects affected agencies to bring explanations and documents, while hearings start Monday, October 5, before NNPCL and INEC appear Tuesday.
The House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee will on Monday and Tuesday grill officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over audit queries involving more than ₦802.19 billion.
The queries are contained in reports of the Auditor-General for the Federation (AGF) covering the 2021, 2022 and 2023 financial years.
They border on alleged irregularities in procurement, revenue management, payments, statutory remittances and compliance with financial regulations.
The committee, chaired by the member representing Ede North/Ede South/Ejigbo/Egbedore Federal Constituency of Osun State, Bamidele Salam, is expected to demand explanations and supporting documents from the affected agencies.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity to The PUNCH, a member of the committee said officials of NNPCL and INEC were expected to appear before the panel on Tuesday.
He said, “On Tuesday at the National Assembly Complex, the House of Representatives Public Accounts Committee will be questioning several agencies.
“As a matter of fact, we are starting on Monday, October 5, with some agencies including the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Federal Capital Territory Judicial Service Commission, Federal Colleges of Education, Okene and Gombe and the University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin. There are others I have not mentioned.
“Tuesday is special because we hope to have in the House the accounting officers and subject matter experts from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“For the NNPC L, I am aware that the Auditor General’s Report of 2021 raised alleged financial infractions of about N514bn, while in the case of INEC, we shall be looking at clarifications on alleged financial breaches of about N288.19bn as contained in the 2022 Auditor General for the Federation audit query.”
According to findings by the aforementioned platform, the ₦514bn queried against the NNPCL includes alleged irregular deductions of ₦343.64bn from domestic crude oil sales.
The Auditor-General’s report also reportedly flagged ₦83.66bn allegedly warehoused from miscellaneous revenue in a sinking fund account, as well as ₦82.95bn in alleged unauthorised deductions from Federation revenue.
A further ₦3.75bn was reportedly flagged as a shortfall arising from the sale of petroleum products.
On INEC, the lawmaker said the queries covered transactions during the tenure of the former INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, who has since been appointed an ambassador.
“There are several audit queries concerning procurement procedures, payments made to contractors as well as failure to remit statutory deductions by the commission during the administration of the former INEC Chairman (Prof Mahmood Yakubu) who is now an ambassador,” he said.
Asked to reveal the alleged misdeeds of the electoral umpire, the lawmaker was evasive, admitting only that “there are questions to be asked on money spent starting from the 2019 general election.”
The Auditor-General’s 2022 Report stated that more than ₦5.31bn was allegedly paid for the supply of smart card readers for the 2019 general election without the prior approval of the Bureau of Public Procurement.
Other agencies listed for questioning by the Salam-led committee on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, include the National Mathematical Centre, National Power Training Centre, National Research Institute for Chemical Technology and the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency, among others
