SENATE COMMITTEE ROASTS NNPCL, OTHER Agencies OVER AUDIT REPORT QUESTIONS
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has taken a stern stance against senior officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and several other agencies for consistently refusing to address queries raised against them in the 2019 audit report.
In an interview on Tuesday, Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ahmed Wadada, expressed exasperation with the attitude of several public agencies who have thus far failed to provide written explanations or attend hearings to defend themselves against audit findings. According to Wadada, such agencies cannot continue to ignore requests for submission of written responses and attendance to scheduled public hearings.
Senator Wadada indicated that apart from the NNPCL, other agencies embroiled in this habit of non-responsiveness included the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, the Nigerian Police, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) – formerly DPRL, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, FCT Internal Revenue Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, and Ministry of Defence, among others.
“The committee intends to sustain its queries and reported these agencies’ non-compliant attitudes to the plenary,” cautioned Senator Wadada.
The stance taken by the Committee is yet another indication that the government places high importance on ensuring accountability and transparency at all levels of its governance structure, a move critics have cheered as a step in the right direction towards the eradication of institutionalized wrongdoing and the promotion of greater public satisfaction with the government.
