Ex-NNPCL CFO in Senate: N210trn not missing; says N2.9 billion, not N5.8 billion, was spent on registering a new company (see CAC, NRS links)

A former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Umar Ajiya, says there is no shortage of money, contrary to reports that the company could not heed the N210 trillion audit demands of the Auditor General of the Federation.

Ajiya stated this on Wednesday before senators in Abuja, after presenting his report on the issues raised in the audit reports from 2017 to 2023.

“Mr President and distinguished senators, I want to assure this committee and all Nigerians that there is no shortage of money.

“Many of us who appear before this committee today have, over the past five or six years, consistently presented and defended the company’s accounts and reports.

“If money had disappeared during our period of supervision, we would not have had the courage to publish our audited accounts.

“For over 44 years the company’s accounts have not been prepared or, once prepared, have not been made public and in many cases have not even been made available to the auditor general.

“We set out to change this culture by ensuring that accounts were submitted to the Auditor General and published on our website for public scrutiny.

“We wanted Nigerians to look into them, ask questions and help restore trust in the NNPC by moving away from the era of opacity.

“After carefully reviewing the report, I observed that two key figures raised significant public concern.

“The first is the claim that $5.8 billion was spent on registering the new company, NNPC Limited,” he said.

Ajiya described the claim as inaccurate, adding that the actual amount used for the registration was $2.9 billion and was paid directly to two government agencies.

He said the money was paid to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), now known as the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).

“This can be independently verified with both agencies,” he said.

Ajiya said someone may have misinterpreted the accounting records under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) or the Federal Ministry of Finance.

“They are the shareholders who represent the Nigerian people.”

“Since MOFI did not provide the funds for the registration, NNPC paid the registration fees on behalf of the shareholders.

“Subsequently, the affected entities recorded the transaction in their respective books, as required by normal accounting procedures.

“It appears that whoever advised the committee added up the figures recorded in several books and erroneously concluded that $5.8 billion was spent.

“No third party was paid to register the company. The funds were paid directly by NNPCL to government agencies and this fact can be verified,” he said.

The former NNPCL boss said the baseless claims had caused real harm and damaged the reputation of the people, the company and Nigeria at large.

“International rating agencies use public information to rate countries; negative and inaccurate reporting can damage Nigeria’s credit rating and our national interests.

“We have seen this before as we sought Chinese financing of around $2.5 billion for the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano pipeline.

“An unpatriotic petition was submitted to the Chinese authorities. Despite the sovereign guarantee, the financing was stopped and the project remains unfinished.

“Such actions discourage public employees and are sometimes frustrating.

“But as Nigerians, we remain committed to serving our country and contributing to its development.

“When people say that $210 trillion is missing, they should be asked: where exactly has it gone? Agencies like the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the EFCC should investigate and establish the facts so that Nigerians can trust the truth,” he said.

Accordingly, the committee adjourned the hearing and ordered Ajiya and Dr Bala Wunti, who served as Chief Upstream Investment Officer during the period under review, to reappear before it within two weeks.