After Two Shifts, Jonathan Finally Receives Forensic Audit On $20 Billion Missing Oil Money

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, News Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015

From Ganiyu Nasirudeen, Abuja –The much awaited forensic audit report on the alleged missing oil money, Monday was formally presented to President Goodluck Jonathan.

Debate on the mysterious missing money started last year, when the immediate past Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi Lamido initially blew the alarm that sum of $49 billion oil money was missing from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), but later estimated the sum at $20 billion.

The controversy lingered between the NNPC, CBN and Presidency, culminating in verbal attacks and finally resulted to the sack of Lamido, now the Emir of Kano, around late February last year.

However, the Federal Government after Emir Lamido’s sack engaged a multinational accounting firm pwc to carry out a forensic audit.

The Finance Minister, Dr. (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, last year June, promised that the audit report would be ready by September last year. When not available and the public outcry remain unabated, government promised it would be available by November the same year.

The Monday formal presentation was two months after the lapse of the second shift.

The forensic audit was presented to President Jonathan by a Nigeria Senior Partner of PriceWaterHouse, (pwc) Mr. Uyi Akpata. The officer stated presenting the report was a privilege for his firm, especially for the government to have engaged it, to carry out the task.

After accepting the report, President Jonathan disclosed that the Auditor-General of the Federation would be directed to study it, as well as make the important highlights public before the week runs out.

President Jonathan indicated that the contents in the papers and the speculations were very high, saying that it contained the figures he could never imagine the country would make which were being “bandied in the newspapers”.

He restated he was delighted the forensic audit was done and eventually ready, noting that despite being voluminous, it would be handed to the professionals, specifying that the Auditor-General of the Federation has the statutory responsibility to carry out the task of this nature.