It’s An Old Audit,’ HURIWA Reacts To Claims Of NNPC’s N102bn Poor Record-Keeping On Crude Oil Deliveries

…Tasks Auditor General To Conduct Yearly Audit

…Commends Mele Kyari Administration For Following Due Process

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), on Thursday, said the Senate on Wednesday dusted an old 2016 Auditor General report which knocked the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited for poor record-keeping for crude oil deliveries to Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company and Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company worth $376, 655,589 (N102.6bn).

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, knocked the Auditor General Office for failing to conduct timely and expeditious audit of government’s ministries, departments and agencies.

The group also commended the current leadership of the NNPC Limited and administration of Mele Kyari for committing to due process since he assumed office in July 2019.

HURIWA also said the Senate should stop being archaic in its oversight function, saying a 2016 report is not only antiquated but showed the slow pace of work by those in the National Assembly.

It said such archaic way in which the Senate discharges it’s duties allows allegedly corrupt officials to flee with state resources and auditing them about 10 years after corrupt deals.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “This 2016 report is an old audit because the current hierarchy led by Mele Kyari has clean records. At first, people reading the report would think the indictment is against the current hierarchy but on a close look, one will see that it is an old audit.

“We commend the current hierarchy for severally admitting to their disposition to follow due process and accountability. We also demand that audits must be done expeditiously and yearly because delaying the audits by the office of the auditor General, National Assembly or President is dangerous to the financial health of the country.”

Kyari’s achievement has been described as unrivaled in the history of the National Oil Company.

He was responsible for the Open Government Initiative that ushered in an era of transparency and accountability in the NNPC’s operations.

He has also kept his promise to the NNPC and Nigeria by increasing the nation’s oil reserves to over 40 billion barrels, from 37 billion barrels.

The NNPC Boss has also assisted in resolving disputes around deep offshore bloc to further boost the nation’s oil production, and ensuring the successful flag-off of the construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline project.

The project has been described by President Muhammadu Buhari as a game changer for the oil and gas industry.

The NNPC Group which became a CAMA Company in 2021 following the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, grew its profit from N287bn in 2020 to N674bn in 2021 under Kyari’s leadership.

The N674bn profit posted by the NNPC Group in the 2021 financial period represents an increase of N387bn or 134.8 per cent when compared to the N287bn recorded in 2020.

The 2021 financial year made it the fourth consecutive years that the NNPC will be making its Audited Financial Statement public.

This was one of the innovations made by Kyari when he took over the helms of affairs of the National Oil Company.

Since he assumed office, Kyari has pursued his Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE) agenda, a five-step strategic roadmap for NNPC’s attainment of efficiency and global excellence.

Kyari, during the inauguration, had said pursuing TAPE was the only way to turn around the corporation and make it competitive.

Under the roadmap, the Transparency component of the agenda was aimed at maintaining positive image, share values of integrity and transparency to all stakeholders, while the Accountability segment of the campaign is to assure compliance with business ethics, policies, regulations and accountability to all stakeholders.

In terms of the two-prong item of Performance Excellence, Kyari had said the idea was to entrench a high level of efficiency anchored on efficient implementation of business processes which would also emplace an appropriate reward system for exceptional performance among the workforce.