The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation has identified 28 major financial irregularities linked to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), involving questionable payments and regulatory breaches amounting to approximately N61.1bn when converted to naira.
The red flags are contained in the Auditor-General’s 2022 Annual Report on Non-Compliance (Volume II), which reviewed financial activities carried out in 2021 by NNPCL and its subsidiaries. According to the document, the disputed sums include N30.1bn, $51.6m, £14.3m, and €5.17m in transactions lacking supporting documentation, proper approvals, or compliance with Nigeria’s financial laws.
The report, already forwarded to the National Assembly, accuses the national oil company of weak internal controls, unauthorised virements, abandoned projects, irregular procurement processes, tax violations, and unsubstantiated settlements of invoices and obligations.
“These findings highlight systemic weaknesses that continue to expose public funds to avoidable risk. Where documents were not provided, payments were unjustified. Where approvals were absent, expenditure breached the law. Recovery and sanctions must follow,” the Auditor-General stated.
The revelations come amid earlier investigative reports published this year highlighting long-running financial discrepancies involving NNPCL, prompting renewed calls for stronger transparency, enforcement actions, and corporate governance reforms in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
