RELEASED reports on the recent forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have confirmed allegations made by the then governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that $20bn was misspent.  

Earlier this year, CBN governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido said that between January 2012 and July, 2013, the funds were missing, prompting the government to ask for the NNPC's accounts to be audited. PriceWaterHouseCoopers, who carried out the audit, confirmed that the NNPC illegally expended $18.53bn on operational costs, kerosene and petrol subsidies, without authorisation from the National Assembly. 

Yesterday, the government finally released the report, showing that monies which ought to have remitted to the national treasury, was also withheld by an NNPC subsidiary, without National Assembly authorisation. Although the audit found that the firm overpaid the state by almost $750m, within the 19 months probed, it recommended a refund of $1.5bn to government coffers. 

Outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan released the audit days after president-elect Muhammadu Buhari, pledged to probe the allegation all over again and crack down on corruption in the energy company once in office. Last year, Mallam Sanusi had told a senate committee that the NNPC had received $67bn and but only handed over $47bn to the treasury. 

After the CBN governor made the allegations, President Jonathan publicly dismissed the claim and replaced Mallam Sanusi, saying the banker had mismanaged the central bank’s budget. He has since become the Emir of Kano after a bitter battle with the government during which the presidency tried to halt him being selected. 

In its audit, the PwC audit said the NNPC and its upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, should hand over $1.48bn arising from unsubstantiated costs, duplicated subsidy claims and computation errors. In addition, the report also recommended an overhaul of how the NNPC is run. 

“The NNPC model of operation must be urgently reviewed and restructured, as the current model which has been in operation since the creation of the corporation cannot be sustained,” PwC said in the 200-page report. 

An earlier one-page version of the report, which had been due out in September, was released in February. General Buhari, who won last month's presidential elections based on his promise to tackle corruption, will have to deal with this matter immediately upon assuming office on May 29.