The Head of Transparency International (TI) Nigeria and Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, has called for a full-scale investigation into the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
Speaking on a television programme on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C., Rafsanjani said a thorough probe of the NNPC’s operations is critical to promoting transparency, enhancing accountability, and ensuring that revenues from the oil sector are properly managed for the benefit of Nigerians.
“It is a welcome development to have an audit of NNPC. However, we are advocating not just for a financial audit, but also for physical and process audits. Only a comprehensive, multi-layered review can uncover systemic weaknesses and chart a course for genuine reform and revitalization of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector,” Rafsanjani said.
He said that the audit must go beyond finances to cover all key aspects of NNPC’s operations.
According to him, while financial audits assess records and transactions to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and verify the accuracy of reports submitted to bodies like the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), physical audits verify the existence and state of assets such as pipelines and oil wells.
Process audits, on the other hand, examine internal controls and operational procedures to ensure efficiency, transparency, and adherence to global standards.
The CISLAC boss said that despite the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act and Nigeria’s ongoing membership in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), the oil and gas sector continues to be plagued by inefficiency, mismanagement, and lack of professionalism.
He said, “There is no way we can continue like this. If we are serious about liberating the Nigerian economy, the oil and gas sector must be reformed and made truly productive for the people,” Rafsanjani, who also serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Amnesty International Nigeria said.
He also recommended that the president should no longer double as Minister of Petroleum Resources to ensure independence and effective oversight of the NNPC.
“For NNPC to function as a genuine commercial entity, free from political interference, the President must relinquish the role of Petroleum Minister. This will enable the company to operate independently and be subject to proper oversight from both the Presidency and the National Assembly. Otherwise, it risks continuing as a political spending tool rather than a strategic economic asset,” he said.
Rafsanjani also acknowledged the efforts of former NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, who, in June 2019, oversaw the publication of the company’s first audited financial statements in 43 years.
He said that the 2018 report revealed a loss of N803.9bn (approximately $2.2bn) and that while stakeholders had hoped the transparency initiative would continue, it was nonetheless a significant milestone that should be built upon.
SOURCE: allafrica.com
