"Rafsanjani Calls for Independence in NNPCL Oversight, Full-Scale Investigation"

By Abdullahi Alhassan Kaduna

The Head of Transparency International (TI) Nigeria and Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Comrade Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, has thrown his support behind calls for a full-scale investigation into the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). Rafsanjani made this known while speaking to Channels Television on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, D.C.

According to Rafsanjani, a thorough probe of the NNPCL's operations is critical to promoting transparency, enhancing accountability, and ensuring that revenues from the oil sector are properly managed for the benefit of Nigerians. "It is a welcome development to have an audit of NNPCL," Rafsanjani stated. "However, we are advocating not just for a financial audit, but also for physical and process audits."

Rafsanjani emphasized that the audit must go beyond finances to cover all key aspects of NNPCL's operations. "Financial audits assess records and transactions to ensure compliance with regulatory standards and verify the accuracy of reports submitted to bodies like the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI)," he explained. "Physical audits verify the existence and state of assets such as pipelines and oil wells. Process audits, on the other hand, examine internal controls and operational procedures to ensure efficiency, transparency, and adherence to global standards."

Despite the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act and Nigeria's ongoing membership in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), Rafsanjani warned that the oil and gas sector continues to be plagued by inefficiency, mismanagement, and lack of professionalism. "There is no way we can continue like this," he said. "If we are serious about liberating the Nigerian economy, the oil and gas sector must be reformed and made truly productive for the people."

Rafsanjani further recommended that the President should no longer double as Minister of Petroleum Resources to ensure independence and effective oversight of the NNPCL. "For NNPCL to function as a genuine commercial entity, free from political interference, the President must relinquish the role of Petroleum Minister," he said. "This will enable the company to operate independently and be subject to proper oversight from both the Presidency and the National Assembly."

Rafsanjani also acknowledged the efforts of former NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, who oversaw the publication of the company's first audited financial statements in 43 years. However, he expressed hope that the current push for a comprehensive audit of NNPCL would not be ignored, unlike a previous audit initiated during the tenure of former Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, which uncovered major financial discrepancies within the then-NNPC.