A disagreement unfolded on Tuesday between the Senate Committee on Public Accounts and the external auditors engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), concerning the auditors’ appearance before the committee.
On the strength of queries raised in audit reports of the affected agencies before 2023, the Senate committee invited their external auditors to appear before it.
But the external auditors, through a letter from their solicitor, Afe Babalola & Co, informed aggrieved parties already litigated against the committee and that issues relating to the audit reports will be subjudice for them to appear before the committee.
Dissatisfied with the reason given by the external auditors, the Committee, in a counter letter dated 15th May, 2025, ordered the external auditors to appear before it on Tuesday, 20th May, 2025, unfailingly.
The committee in the letter titled ” Re: Special Legislative Inquiry on the External Auditors to NNPCL and NAPIMS,” among others, told the external auditors that the scope of their work goes beyond the case before the court.
“That the Committee still stands on not being a party to any case that is between the External Auditors or the Court and cannot be sub-judice.
“That the external auditors have a duty of full disclosure of the claim in court, by furnishing the Committee of the Court process, to determine the involvement of the National Assembly or the Senate in the case on the subject of Sub-judice.
“Arising from the foregoing, the External Auditors to NNPCL and NAPIMS are advised to honor the appointment of 20 May, 2025, as earlier acknowledged, else the Committee would explore its Power to compel attendance.”
However, at the session on Tuesday, none of the external auditors appeared before the committee but were represented by one of their solicitors, Oyetola Muyiwa Atoyebi ( SAN), who was not allowed to make any submission.
Atoyebi, who later spoke to journalists, said the external auditors couldn’t appear before the committee to avoid subjudice.
“The committee had earlier been informed that the external auditors would not appear before it because issues to be deliberated upon are already in court and would amount to subjudice on their part to make any submissions on them.
“It is even subjudice for the committee itself to be holding a session on issues being litigated against in the court of law “, he said.
