One day after President Goodluck Jonathan
authorized the release of a version of a
forensic audit of $20 billion reportedly
missing from Nigeria’s crude oil sales, an oil industry expert reviewing the report has
stated that the Nigerian government
appeared to have pressured the auditors,
PricewaterhouseCooper, to revise parts of its preliminary report.
authorized the release of a version of a
forensic audit of $20 billion reportedly
missing from Nigeria’s crude oil sales, an oil industry expert reviewing the report has
stated that the Nigerian government
appeared to have pressured the auditors,
PricewaterhouseCooper, to revise parts of its preliminary report.
After analyzing the audit report, the expert
concluded that the much-anticipated release of
the audit report of Nigeria’s accounts and the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
has provided few insights into the $20 billion that
was allegedly not remitted to the Federal
Accounts.
Mr. Jonathan authorized the release of a version
of the report one day after President-elect
Muhammadu Buhari disclosed that his
administration would immediately investigate the
allegation by former Central Bank Governor Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi to the effect that the NNPC had
failed to account for more than $20 billion in
crude oil exports by Nigeria. Mr. Sanusi, who was
fired by President Jonathan shortly after he made
the allegation, is now the Emir of the ancient city
of Kano.
“The report reveals that PricewaterhouseCooper
was recalled by Nigeria’s auditor general in
January 2015 to share its original findings with
the NNPC,” said the expert. He added, “At this
point, PwC received ‘a significant amount of
additional information’ from the NNPC, which was
not reportedly not provided during the original
review period. Consequently, the so-called
updated report released by Jonathan contains
significant changes from the previous report.”
He stated that it was important to investigate the
nature of the “additional information” produced by
NNPC “to determine whether it was simply a
tactical deployment of deceptive data and
information to color the audit outcome.”
According to the Abuja-based expert, “it is highly
curious that the NNPC was apparently inept in the
quality of information it originally provided to the
auditors. Given the charged nature of the
controversy generated by the matter, one would
expect that the NNPC would be scrupulous in
providing exhaustive information to
PricewaterhouseCooper at the initial stages of the
audit.” He stated that it was important to examine
and evaluate the additional information to
ascertain that it was not part of a scheme to
compromise the audit process.
The oil sector expert added that it was significant
that, despite the revision, the sanitized version of
the audit still indicated “there was a shortfall of
$1.48 billion in oil revenue that the NNPC needed
to refund to the Federal Accounts.”
Our expert also remarked that the PwC report also
admitted that it did not even constitute an audit.
He pointed to a section of the report that read,
“the procedures we performed did not constitute
an examination or review in accordance with
generally accepted standards or attestation
standards.” The PwC report also warned that its
findings cannot “be relied upon by any other
party (third party)” to Nigeria’s auditor-general.
“This is another curious aspect of the audit,”
according to our expert. “Basically, it’s as if the
audit company was telling the world that the work
they set out to do did not follow stringent
standards of auditing. And yet, the Jonathan
administration had promised Nigerians a thorough
audit. And a thorough-going audit is certainly
what the government owes the Nigerian people.”
PwC is one of the world’s leading audit and
consulting companies. SaharaReporters could not
ascertain how much PwC charged the Nigerian
government for its work on the saga of $20 billion
in missing oil revenue.
concluded that the much-anticipated release of
the audit report of Nigeria’s accounts and the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
has provided few insights into the $20 billion that
was allegedly not remitted to the Federal
Accounts.
Mr. Jonathan authorized the release of a version
of the report one day after President-elect
Muhammadu Buhari disclosed that his
administration would immediately investigate the
allegation by former Central Bank Governor Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi to the effect that the NNPC had
failed to account for more than $20 billion in
crude oil exports by Nigeria. Mr. Sanusi, who was
fired by President Jonathan shortly after he made
the allegation, is now the Emir of the ancient city
of Kano.
“The report reveals that PricewaterhouseCooper
was recalled by Nigeria’s auditor general in
January 2015 to share its original findings with
the NNPC,” said the expert. He added, “At this
point, PwC received ‘a significant amount of
additional information’ from the NNPC, which was
not reportedly not provided during the original
review period. Consequently, the so-called
updated report released by Jonathan contains
significant changes from the previous report.”
He stated that it was important to investigate the
nature of the “additional information” produced by
NNPC “to determine whether it was simply a
tactical deployment of deceptive data and
information to color the audit outcome.”
According to the Abuja-based expert, “it is highly
curious that the NNPC was apparently inept in the
quality of information it originally provided to the
auditors. Given the charged nature of the
controversy generated by the matter, one would
expect that the NNPC would be scrupulous in
providing exhaustive information to
PricewaterhouseCooper at the initial stages of the
audit.” He stated that it was important to examine
and evaluate the additional information to
ascertain that it was not part of a scheme to
compromise the audit process.
The oil sector expert added that it was significant
that, despite the revision, the sanitized version of
the audit still indicated “there was a shortfall of
$1.48 billion in oil revenue that the NNPC needed
to refund to the Federal Accounts.”
Our expert also remarked that the PwC report also
admitted that it did not even constitute an audit.
He pointed to a section of the report that read,
“the procedures we performed did not constitute
an examination or review in accordance with
generally accepted standards or attestation
standards.” The PwC report also warned that its
findings cannot “be relied upon by any other
party (third party)” to Nigeria’s auditor-general.
“This is another curious aspect of the audit,”
according to our expert. “Basically, it’s as if the
audit company was telling the world that the work
they set out to do did not follow stringent
standards of auditing. And yet, the Jonathan
administration had promised Nigerians a thorough
audit. And a thorough-going audit is certainly
what the government owes the Nigerian people.”
PwC is one of the world’s leading audit and
consulting companies. SaharaReporters could not
ascertain how much PwC charged the Nigerian
government for its work on the saga of $20 billion
in missing oil revenue.
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