The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives will question officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over alleged financial breaches totalling more than N802.19 billion. The breaches were revealed in reports of the Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF) covering the 2021, 2022, and 2023 financial years. The reports raised queries over procurement procedures, revenue management, payments, and compliance with financial regulations by government agencies.
The committee, chaired by Bamidele Salam, is empowered to examine public accounts and investigate issues relating to revenue losses, non-remittance of statutory funds, and breaches of financial regulations. A member of the committee said the AuGF's reports raised questions against the NNPCL in its 2021, 2022, and 2023 audits. INEC will also be required to provide explanations on issues raised in the AuGF's 2022 and 2023 reports. The committee will require the NNPCL to provide supporting documents and explanations on the transactions and respond to the audit queries raised by the AuGF.
The AuGF's report flagged N83.66 billion allegedly warehoused from miscellaneous revenue in a sinking fund account, as well as N82.95 billion in alleged unauthorised deductions from Federation revenue. A further N3.75 billion was reportedly flagged as a shortfall arising from the sale of petroleum products. The committee will also probe INEC over procurement processes, payments to contractors, and failure to remit statutory deductions. The queries covered transactions during the tenure of the former INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu.
The House Public Accounts Committee issued an ultimatum to the HydroCarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to appear and respond to queries raised in the 2021 and 2024 audit reports of the Office of the AuGF. HYPREP's Programme Coordinator was directed to appear before the committee by Monday, October 12, 2026, or face further action by the House. The committee also invited the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), Ogoni Remediation Trust Fund to address issues linked to the audit findings.
Among the queries raised against HYPREP were the agency's failure to submit audited accounts to the AuGF's office between 2017 and 2021. The committee also questioned contracts involving $2.1 million over alleged irregular awards and failure to deduct statutory taxes. Other queries covered N986 million paid for consultancy services without evidence of execution and N315 million paid for training and N7.2 billion spent on poorly executed contracts.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) demanded full disclosure of the reported N11.2 trillion oil-backed loans, warning against using future crude production to ease present financial pressures. HURIWA's National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, noted that Nigerians deserved to know how the borrowed funds were used and whether the country received fair value for committing such a large volume of future crude.
HURIWA compared the arrangement to a father selling valuable family assets to finance present needs while leaving his children with little to inherit. The group urged the Federal Government to explain how proceeds from the oil-backed facilities were spent and whether the funds went into projects capable of generating sustainable economic returns. HURIWA also called on the government and NNPCL to publish details of the three financing arrangements.
Key points
- The House of Representatives probes N802.19 billion financial breaches in NNPCL and INEC.
- HYPREP given seven days to explain audit queries involving over N400 billion.
- HURIWA demands transparency on N11.2 trillion oil-backed loans.
