The Senate Public Accounts Committee has issued a one-week ultimatum to the external auditors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) to account for more than ₦210 trillion in unreconciled figures contained in the company’s audited financial statements, warning that auditors who certified the accounts cannot evade responsibility for defending them.

The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, handed down the directive on Wednesday after a tense hearing during which lawmakers rejected repeated attempts by the auditors to refer questions back to NNPC Ltd., insisting that the figures they signed off on must be fully explained.

At the heart of the controversy are ₦107 trillion recorded as receivables and ₦103 trillion listed as payables in the company’s audited accounts. Senators said the figures remain unexplained because neither NNPC Ltd. nor its auditors has produced schedules identifying the transactions, counterparties or calculations behind them.

The auditors informed the committee that the supporting schedules formed part of their working papers and requested about two weeks to retrieve the documents.

The request was firmly rejected.

Senator Dankwambo questioned why auditors who had certified the accounts could not immediately produce documents supporting the figures.

“When you have figures in audited financial statements, there must be schedules showing exactly how those figures were derived. If those schedules already exist in your working papers, why do you need additional time before presenting them to this committee?” he asked.

The audit firm argued that NNPC Ltd. remained its client and that detailed explanations should ordinarily come from the company, recalling that during an earlier hearing lawmakers had agreed that NNPC officials would explain the figures.

That position drew sharp criticism from the committee.

Citing Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution, lawmakers insisted that the National Assembly has the constitutional authority to summon any individual or organisation and compel the production of documents relevant to its investigations.

“You are before this committee as independent auditors. Do not tell us you need permission from your client before complying with a lawful request from Parliament,” one senator said.

The committee stressed that the auditors were appearing in their own professional capacity and remained personally responsible for defending the audit opinions they issued.

“The public concern arose because of the audit you carried out. These figures came from your certified financial statements. You cannot now distance yourselves from the very work you signed,” another lawmaker said.

Some senators questioned whether the audit had been properly conducted.

“If you cannot produce the schedules supporting these figures, serious questions arise about whether the audit work was actually done. Those documents should already exist,” a member observed.

Lawmakers also faulted the inability of both NNPC Ltd. and its auditors to reconcile the receivables and payables.

According to the committee, NNPC officials had repeatedly claimed the amounts related largely to joint venture cash calls and payments but had failed to identify the individual transactions or counterparties involved.

“If both figures relate to the same joint venture arrangements, they should be capable of reconciliation. The inability to identify their individual components is precisely why this committee considers the combined amount of over ₦210 trillion as unexplained.

“We are not saying the money is missing. We are saying the figures remain unexplained, and for amounts of this magnitude to remain unreconciled in audited financial statements is unacceptable,” one senator stated.

The committee also dismissed suggestions that professional confidentiality prevented the auditors from releasing the requested documents.

Lawmakers argued that NNPC Ltd., being wholly owned by the Federal Government on behalf of Nigerians, could not invoke commercial secrecy to shield information from Parliament.

“NNPC belongs to the Nigerian people, not to private shareholders. Parliament has every constitutional right to examine its accounts, and no confidentiality agreement can override that responsibility,” a senator said.

Drawing from international experience, another lawmaker warned the auditors of the reputational consequences of failing to stand by certified accounts, citing the collapse of Arthur Andersen after the Enron scandal as a reminder of the cost of audit failures.

The committee ultimately directed the auditors to return within one week with a comprehensive breakdown of the ₦107 trillion receivables and ₦103 trillion payables, including detailed schedules identifying every component of the figures and the basis upon which they were certified.

Before adjourning the hearing, Senator Dankwambo clarified that the committee had never alleged that the money was missing.

“We have never said the money is missing,” he said.

“What we have consistently maintained is that these figures remain unexplained. One represents receivables and the other represents payables. Because neither has been adequately explained, the committee refers to the combined amount of about ₦210 trillion as unexplained. That is the issue before us.”

The auditors were thereafter discharged and directed to reappear before the committee within one week with the requested documentation.