I have followed, with keen interest, the controversy surrounding the unaccounted federation account funds involving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). It will be recalled that suspended CBN Governor,
Mallam Lamido Sanusi, caused a stir when he raised an alarm that the NNPC failed to remit crude oil proceeds amounting to $49.8 billion into the Federation Account from January 2012 to July 2013. Sanusi later recanted saying $12 billion, and not $49.8billion, was the amount discovered not to have been remitted to the account within the period. That was after a joint reconciliation committee, of which he was part, had resolved the figure to $10.8 billion. Now, Sanusi’s figure has changed again to $20 billion.
However, Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has recommended an independent body be set up to do a forensic audit of all the documents and claims. With this firm stance, we can rest assured that the reconciliation process will be completed with honesty and integrity, devoid of undue encumbrance from partisan interests.
Olusola Daniel,
Kwara state.
