Nigerian lawmakers give govt one week to submit full report of audit on missing $20billion

The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has again requested the Federal Government to avail his committee the full report of the forensic audit done on the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation by Price Water Coopers, PWC, to enable it perform its constitutional duty as enshrined under Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic. The lawmakers gave the government one week to make the report available to their committee. According ‎to the committee’s chairman, Solomon Adeola, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, several weeks had passed with several demands made for the report without success. He said it took a public outcry before snippets of the reports in a “highly condensed version was released to the Press by the Auditor General”. He stated this in a press statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES after a press briefing alongside members of his committee in Abuja on Wednesday. The committee frowned at the role of the Ministry of Finance in the commissioning and appointment of auditors “without the involvement of the Auditor General whose office is eminently and exclusively empowered for the duty by the 1999 Constitution”. Mr. Adeola said by virtue of Section 85(6) of the Constitution, the auditor general ought not to be directed by Mr. President to deal with the report in a particular manner. The lawmaker said for yet unclear reasons, no reference whatsoever was made to the need to send the report to the National Assembly where the Public Accounts Committee is empowered and equipped to deal with it as constitutionally required adding that the PAC “hereby request that the full report on the Forensic Audit by PWC, which must include the initial Draft Report, Executive Summary, management/internal Control Letters be forwarded to the national Assembly not later than one week”.