The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is under fire after the Auditor-General’s 2022 report revealed £14.3 million spent at its London office without proper documentation or accountability.
The audit exposed serious breaches of financial regulations and weak internal controls, raising fears of misappropriation.
Despite NNPCL’s claim that the funds were properly budgeted and recorded, the Auditor-General found their explanations unsatisfactory and demanded immediate recovery of the money.
The report warns of sanctions if the funds are not remitted to the treasury.
This scandal adds to ongoing investigations into NNPCL’s opaque finances, including allegations of fraud totaling billions of dollars and billions of naira lost to abandoned projects and inflated contracts.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is probing senior officials amid growing calls for transparency.
With the Senate also scrutinizing over N210 trillion in unaccounted funds, Nigeria’s flagship oil firm faces intense pressure to clean up its act and restore public trust.
