Senate Criticizes NNPCL, FIRS, Police, and Others Over 2019 Audit Queries

• The Senate expressed disapproval of federal agencies, including NNPCL and FIRS, for failing to respond to 2019 audit queries
• Senator Ahmed Wadada warned that non-compliance undermines anti-corruption efforts, as the Senate plans to sustain audit queries if ignored

The Senate has strongly disapproved of several federal government revenue-generating agencies and Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) for consistently refusing to respond to audit queries raised in the 2019 Audit report.

On Tuesday, Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu, representing Nasarawa West and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, voiced his frustration with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigeria Police Force, and 12 other agencies that have repeatedly ignored invitations from the Senate to appear and address concerns raised by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation.

Senator Wadada warned that this non-compliance could undermine the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s anti-corruption and transparency efforts. He also named other agencies, including the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Nigeria Mining Cadastre Office, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (formerly DPR), the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment, FCT Internal Revenue Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and Nigeria Communications Satellite Limited.

The Chairman further declared that the Senate Public Accounts Committee would now sustain audit queries and report them to the Senate Plenary if these MDAs ignore invitations. He emphasized that the Committee began reviewing the 2019 Audit Report in October 2023 to present its findings to the Plenary, but the evasive actions of some agencies have hindered this process.

Senator Wadada highlighted that the Committee’s rules of engagement require Accounting Officers to attend Public Hearings to answer questions and defend their responses to audit queries. However, many agencies have chosen to disregard these invitations, leading to the Committee’s decision to adopt the Auditor-General’s findings if the agencies fail to respond.

He added that the Committee is confident in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to improving Nigeria but stressed that this goal will not be achievable unless all parties fulfill their responsibilities.