Hot SourceChiemelie Ezeobi
The Head of Transparency International (TI) Nigeria and Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, has endorsed calls for a comprehensive investigation into the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Speaking to Channels Television on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C., Rafsanjani stressed that a full audit of NNPCL’s operations is essential to promoting transparency, strengthening accountability, and ensuring that oil revenues are properly managed for the benefit of Nigerians.
“It is a welcome development to have an audit of NNPCL,” Rafsanjani said. “However, we are advocating not just for a financial audit, but also for physical and process audits. Only a comprehensive, multi-layered review can expose systemic weaknesses and chart a course for genuine reform and revitalisation of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.”
He emphasised that the audit must go beyond financial records to examine all critical aspects of NNPCL’s operations. While financial audits assess transactions for compliance and verify reports submitted to bodies like the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Rafsanjani explained that physical audits would verify the existence and condition of assets such as pipelines and oil wells. Process audits, meanwhile, would scrutinise internal controls and operational procedures to ensure efficiency, transparency, and alignment with global best practices.
Despite the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act and Nigeria’s ongoing membership in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Rafsanjani warned that inefficiency, mismanagement, and lack of professionalism continue to plague the oil and gas sector.
“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,” said Rafsanjani, who also serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Amnesty International Nigeria.
He further recommended that the President should no longer double as Minister of Petroleum Resources to ensure independence and effective oversight of the NNPCL.
“For NNPCL 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 argued.
Rafsanjani also acknowledged the efforts of former NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, who, in June 2019, oversaw the publication of the company’s first audited financial statements in 43 years. The 2018 report revealed a loss of N803.9 billion (approximately $2.2 billion). While stakeholders had hoped the transparency drive would continue, Rafsanjani noted that the milestone nevertheless set an important precedent.
He also recalled a previous audit initiated during the tenure of former Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, which exposed significant financial discrepancies within the then-NNPC. Unfortunately, Rafsanjani lamented, the National Assembly dismissed the report despite its critical findings.
Expressing optimism, Rafsanjani urged that the current push for a comprehensive audit of NNPCL must not be ignored.
