National Economic Council’s ad-hoc committee on the management of the Excess Crude Account proceeds and accruals into the Federation Account has said that two firms, KPMG and PriceWaterHouseCooper have been hired to audit all federal government revenue generating agencies.
Chairman of the committee and Edo state governor, Adams Oshiomhole while addressing statehouse correspondents said “We have decided to appoint two audit firms – KPMG and PwC – to carry out a forensic audit of all these agencies. The federal government will decide what to do with the findings.
“Some of us are not accountants and two of my colleagues who are accountants were unable to understand the way these agencies operated their accounts.
“We don’t know how long it will take, but they must do it within a time frame and must be very thorough and exercise best professional judgment.
“PwC said some organisations did not cooperate with it and so could not do a thorough audit. That was due to the political environment prevailing then.
“But now the present administration is conducive. Buhari is willing to provide the enabling environment.
“KPMG said it refused to participate because the environment was not conducive.
“It is more about tomorrow, not about yesterday. Nigeria cannot continue to be run like before. We want to lay the foundation for the country to be built on.
“We will do what all civilised countries do, that is, government agencies are run in a constitutional manner. The president’s intention is very clear.
“This is how to give the ownership of the country to the people. When Nigeria is properly run by taxpayers’ money, the country will be more accountable to its people.”
The agencies whose accounts would be audited include the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Securities Exchange Commission, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Department of Petroleum Resources, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, Federal Ministry of Finance and Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, among others.
Other members of the committee include Zamfara State Governor Abdulazeez Yari, Oshiomhole, Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai, and Akwa Ibom Governor Udom Emmanuel and Lagos state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.