Reps issue ultimatum to finance ministry to present forensic report on alleged missing $20bn

Reps issue ultimatum to finance ministry to present forensic report on alleged missing $20bn

The House of Representatives, Public Accounts Committee, PAC,
yesterday issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Ministry of Finance to
lay before it the said “forensic audit” report on an alleged missing $20
billion.
Former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had alleged last
year, before he was sacked, that the Nigeria National Petroleum
Corporation, NNPC, withheld over $20 billion due to the federation
account in line with section 162 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
A motion was raised and passed more than a week ago requesting the
Finance Minister to lay the report, but the House Committee headed
by Solomon Adeola Olamilekan (APC-Lagos) said the request was yet
to be heeded, hence the ultimatum issued by the committee. The
committee while issuing the ultimatum stressed that the lawmakers
were empowered by section 85 of the Constitution to hold all agencies
of government accountable.
“The Public Accounts Committee cognizant of the provisions of the
constitution and empowered by the Resolution of the House of
Representatives on a motion moved by the Minority Leader, Femi
Gbajabiamila, hereby request that the full report on the Forensic Audit
by PWC, which must include the initial Draft Report, the Executive
Summary, Management/Internal Control Letters, should be forwarded
to the National Assembly not later than one week from today.”
The committee regretted the opacity with which the Presidency was
handling the allegations by the erstwhile Central Bank Governor,
Sanusi.
“It took quite a while and public outcry for snippets of the report to
surface, albeit in the press. Mr. President was reported to have
directed the Auditor General to study, analyse and release the report
to the press. A highly condensed version of the report was eventually
released as directed, by the Auditor General to the press with the
highlight that the NNPC must remit a minimum of $1.48 billion into the
Federation Account.”