The Nigerian Senate has threatened to invoke its constitutional powers to compel the appearance of external auditors hired by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), following their failure to honour an invitation to address discrepancies in the company’s financial statements.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada, issued a stern warning after none of the four auditing firms engaged by the NNPCL appeared before the committee to clarify issues surrounding the company’s financial records from 2017 to 2023.
Wadada described the absence as “completely unacceptable,” condemning it as a breach of public trust. “It is unacceptable that citizens entrusted with public accountability consistently flout that trust,” he said.
Tensions escalated in the committee room when a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) appeared on behalf of the auditors. The committee immediately rejected his appearance, insisting that only the auditors who prepared the reports could provide the necessary clarifications.
“We found him not fit and proper to stand before us as a representative of the external auditing firms,” Wadada stated. “Only those who prepared the audit reports can respond to our queries.”
The auditing firms summoned include SIAO, VWC, Muktali Dangana & Co, and Ahmed Zakaria & Co. The Senate expects each firm to appear individually to respond to specific issues flagged in NNPCL’s 2023 accounts.
“If they do not appear as summoned, we will have no choice but to invoke the legal powers available to us to compel their attendance. The Nigerian public and the international community deserve full disclosure,” the committee warned.
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Senator Saliu Mustapha, also a member of the committee, emphasized the gravity of the matter. “There are sensitive issues at stake, and we cannot allow them to be swept under the carpet. Our duty as representatives of the people demands full accountability,” he said.
The committee has given the external auditors a final deadline: Tuesday, May 27, 2025, at exactly 2:00 PM. “Let it be clear—they must appear next week Tuesday. No more excuses,” the committee stated, warning that continued defiance could result in public exposure of the financial irregularities and legal action.
