Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, says a forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is not just necessary—it is unavoidable.
Speaking during the Nigerian Investor Forum held on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., Edun noted that the federal government is taking serious steps to clean up operations within the state-run oil company.
While addressing a room full of global investors, including representatives from major institutions like J.P. Morgan, Edun stated that the shake-up in NNPCL leadership earlier this month was only the beginning of a broader effort to ensure transparency in the oil sector.
The minister revealed that a forensic investigation into NNPCL’s activities in previous years is already underway. “There’s a forensic audit of NNPCL underway so that we can really understand what has happened in the past. As for now, there’s a reconciliation exercise going on,” he said.
He added that the federal government is determined to restore investor confidence by implementing serious economic reforms, with the audit being one key part of that agenda. According to Edun, the shift in subsidy payments last year played a major role in the current need for financial clarity.
“The removal of the fuel subsidy was announced on May 29, 2023, but it took time to achieve,” he noted, explaining that during that period, NNPCL bore part of the financial burden, and now it is time to resolve those accounts.
Edun stressed that the company must now focus on increasing oil production, bringing in more dollar revenue, and contributing more to the federation’s income. “That’s the mandate they have been given, and I think they will deliver,” he added.
The push for financial accountability comes shortly after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu removed Mele Kyari from his role as NNPCL Group CEO and also replaced the company’s chairman, Chief Pius Akinyelure.
