Umar Ajiya, the former Chief Financial Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has denied the allegations of financial misappropriation against the company.
It was reported that Ajiya made the statement when he was featured in a session of the Senate Public Accounts Committee probing alleged misappropriation of funds.
His comments came after those of the senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, who is said to have called NNPCL a “house of thieves” – [allegations] that the NNPCL has denied.
The company has no reason to hide anything, Ajiya said, dismissing the allegations of fund misappropriation.
He said the company was incorporated and rebranded at a cost of N2.9 billion and not N5.8 billion.
“We are not thieves,” said Ajiya. NNPC was registered with N2.9 billion not N5.8 billion. I have been presenting and defending the company’s reports to this committee for the last five or six years.
“I have to assure Mr Chairman and the distinguished senators that are here today and in fact all Nigerians that there is no money missing.
In the interest of transparency and to combat public mistrust, the company published its audited accounts, said the ex-CFO.
Ajiya said, “Let me be very clear that if there was any money that actually went missing in NNPC in our period we would not have had the courage to publish the audited accounts in the last 44 years.
“The accounts were prepared and never shied away from the public and even at times with the Auditor-General of the Federation.
“So we made it a duty upon us not only to give to the Auditor-General, but also to put it on our website, let Nigerians criticise and scrutinise to come out of the opaqueness and that lack of trust that the public had on NNPC.
