Senate slams NNPCL, FIRS, Police, others over audit report

The Senate through its Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday slammed the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigeria Police Force and 12 others for their persistent refusal to respond to queries raised against them in the 2019 Audit report.

Briefing journalists in Abuja, Chairman of the committee, Senator Ahmed Aliyu (SDP Nasarawa West), said since heads of the affected agencies refused to respond to queries raised against them in the 2019 audit report after several opportunities offered to do so

He stated that going forward, any agency that refuses to honour an invitation to defend its queries will have its queries sustained and reported to the Senate plenary by  the committee.

“It is worthy to state that the Committee commenced the consideration of the Audit Report in October, 2023, to present its report to the Plenary,” Aliyu said.

“However, some agencies have willfully failed to honour invitations to defend their written responses to the audit queries as submitted to the Committee Secretariat.

“Beside the demand for submission of written responses to audit queries, part of the Committee’s rules of engagement requires that Accounting Officers attend the Committee’s Public Hearing to respond to questions arising from the analysis of their submissions which in turn forms a basis for informed decision on the matter by the Committee.

“The desire of the Public Accounts Committee to timely discharge its constitutional and legislative function is being by the evasive and negative actions of some CEOs or accounting officers of the concerned MDAs.

“The Committee is very displeased with the attitude of foot dragging by agencies who are by law, expected to respond to parliamentary invitations and account for their actions.

“The Committee has over time, extended invitations to those agencies providing them ample opportunities to defend their queries but for reasons best known to them, these agencies have chosen to disregard invitations.”

To Aliyu, the attitude of the affected public agencies on persistent refusal to respond to queries against them in audit reports was frustrating and detrimental to the aspirations and goals of President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government.