Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
Lagos, Nigeria – The government of Nigeria announced on Thursday that 20 auditors were examining the accounts of the state oil company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Nigeria’s Auditor General for the Federation (AGF) Samuel Ukura made the disclosure in Abuja when he appeared before the National Assembly House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts to defend the 2013 and 2014 budgets.
Nogtec Abuja reporter had earlier learnt that National Assembly upper house, the Nigerian Senate had called for forensic auditing of the NNPC’s account to unravel the alleged missing US$20 billion.
Oil revenue remittances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have recently been caught up in controversy, after a huge sum was found to be missing from the Federation Account.
The company has consistently denied any wrong-doing.
Last week, President Goodluck Jonathan suspended the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Sanusi Lamido Sanusi over alleged “various acts of financial recklessness and misconduct.”
Sanusi, who was appointed by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in June 2009, became embroiled in controversy after he charged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with gross mismanagement and corruption.
Last September, he also alleged in a letter to President Jonathan that the NNPC had failed to remit 49.8 billion dollars in oil proceeds to the government account over a 19 months period.
The letter which was not acted on by the Nigerian leader, got leaked to the media, sparkling an outcry from the public.
Sanusi was then accused by some political aides of the president of causing enough damage to the reputation of President Jonathan’s government.
In reaction to the public outcry, the president told him to resign in December but Sanusi refused.
The former CBN governor have since sued the President for his ‘’unlawful removal’’.
