Abuja, Nigeria, June 10, 2024 – A forensic audit by KPMG, a global accounting firm, has revealed a staggering N3.3 trillion discrepancy in the fuel subsidy claims made by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. The audit found that NNPCL had inflated its fuel subsidy claims, initially reporting N6 trillion, a substantial portion of which was paid by the government.
NNPCL’s Group CEO, Mele Kyari, asserted that the company is still owed N2.8 trillion by the federal government, which has yet to reimburse this amount.
“Since the provision of the N6 trillion in 2022, and N3.7 trillion in 2023, we have not received any payment whatsoever from the Federation,” Kyari stated. “This means the Federal Government is unable to pay, and we’ve continued to support this subsidy from NNPC’s cash flow. We are waiting for them to settle up to N2.8 trillion from the subsidy regime, and we can’t continue to build this.”
Kyari’s comments were made hours after President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of the fuel subsidy.
In light of KPMG’s reconciliation, which reduced the subsidy claims to N2.7 trillion, the Nigerian Government has decided to conduct a fresh audit of the N2.8 trillion fuel subsidy claim. This audit, covering the period from 2015 to 2021, aims to verify the authenticity of NNPC’s claims.
The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation (OAuGF) will lead the audit, with the option to engage an external firm for additional support. This decision was made during a Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in March 2024, where members emphasized the need for an independent audit to prevent conflicts of interest.