Governor Adams Oshiomhole: no longer business as usual

Nigeria has hired PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and KPMG to audit the accounts of all federal revenue-generating agencies between 2012 and 2015.

The presidential committee looking into the excess crude account (ECA) said on Thursday there was a need to go beyond just probing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The National Economic Council (NEC) had set up a committee, made up of the governors of Edo, Akwa Ibom, Gombe, Lagos and Kaduna states to screen the books of NNPC on its remittances to the federation account.

At Thursday’s meeting ‎in Abuja, the committee extended the probe to other revenue generating agencies. They have been invited to answer questions on their expenditures.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigeria Customs Service, the ministry of finance and the office of the accountant-general of the federation have all appeared before the panel.

Adams Oshiomhole, governor of Edo state, told the media that it would no longer be “business as usual”.

“The probe will now cover value for expense as the affected agencies will be made to account for things expended on at their correct value,” he said.

“We have other revenues like bonuses, royalties, taxes and VAT that flow into the federation account.

“We are taking a holistic review of the entire process, looking at all the agencies that make contribution of funds to the federation account.

“We are convinced that by appointing audit firms, we will allow professionals to carry out this exercise, so that it will be free of any political colouration.’’

Oshiomhole said “we had a successful session with Customs, NPA, NEITI, SEC, FIRS and quite a number of others and next week we will also hear from CBN, Ministry of Finance and Office of the Accountant- General of the Federation.

“For the remaining ones, we agree we are going to meet on Thursday next week – NNPC, NPDC, DPR, NIMASA and other agencies.’’

Other members of the NEC ad hoc committee include Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State , Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe and Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom.

NAN