By Energy Worth
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed that it has completed outstanding audit of the Group Financial Statements from the years 2011 to 2016.
The audited backlog has since been formally approved by the Board of the corporation in line with extant laws governing the operations of the national oil company.
The Chief Financial Officer/Group Executive Director, Finance and Accounts, NNPC, Isiaka AbdulRazaq, said the delivery of the audited financial statements would help foster better relations with stakeholders and promote transparency and accountability in the corporation.
He stated that the drive to achieve a clean slate dated back to August 2015, when the current management of the corporation took over the leadership and inherited a total of 65 unaudited financial statements for the NNPC and its subsidiaries, covering 2011 to 2014.
AbdulRazaq was quoted in a statement issued in Abuja by the firm’s spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, as saying, “There were, undoubtedly, challenges that led to the backlog, which may have been beyond the control of the previous management. However, the important factor was not to look to the past. We saw an opportunity to challenge the problem and resolved to clear the arrears in the shortest possible time.
“Management achieved the first step of concluding the audit of the 2011 to 2012 financial positions and presented same to the Board in 2016, and in recognition of that modest achievement, the NNPC Board further mandated the management to clear the remaining outstanding reports for the years 2013 to 2016, and the result today is the delivery and Board approval of the audited group financial statements as of December 31, 2016.”
Also, the Managing Director, Nigerian Pipeline and Storage Company, Luke Anele, announced plans by the firm, which was created out of the old Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, to embark on a comprehensive audit of the over 5,000 kilometres of petroleum products and crude oil pipelines under its watch.
