TheĀ Minister of FinanceĀ and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has demanded to know the whole truth about the purportedly missing $20 billion, which the suspended Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has insisted is missing from the federation account.
A statement Tuesday from her office to the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, quoted the minister as asking āfor urgent action with regard to an independent forensic audit of conflicting claims of unaccounted funds made by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamdio Sanusiā.
According to the BBC, the direct statement from Mrs. Okonjo Iweala said, āMy position on this has been clear from the start. The Ministry of Financeās reconciliation showed a shortfall of $10.8bn in NNPC remittances to the Federation account. After this, the conflicting claims continued with new figures such as $20bn being mentionedā.
The minister noted that since 13th February she has called for an independent forensic audit of the federation account adding āPresident Goodluck Jonathan indeed announced last night [Monday, during his Presidential Media Chat] that there will be an investigation into whether there are any funds missing from NNPC. He also indicated that the correct process needs to be followed in this investigation and I understand that the entity that has the proper authority to initiate such an investigation is the Auditor General of the federationā.