Economy
N4.9trn Unsubstantiated Balances Unaccounted in 2019—Auditor-General
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF), Mr Adolphus Aghughu, has disclosed that the sum of N4.9 trillion cannot be accounted for in the audited accounts of federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in 2019.
He said this followed the audit carried out by the office on the consolidated financial statement for the fiscal year.
Mr Aghughu made the disclosure when submitting the 2019 audit report to the Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA), Mr Ojo Amos Olatunde, on Wednesday.
The Auditor-General revealed that “from the audit carried out on the 2019 Federal Government Consolidated Financial Statement, unsubstantiated balances amounting to N4.973 trillion were observed.”
“The N4.973 trillion unsubstantiated balances are above the materiality level of N89.34 billion set for the audit,” he further explained.
In auditing, materiality means not just a quantified amount, but the effect that amount would have in various contexts and it is left to the auditor to decide what the level of materiality will be, taking into account, the entirety of the financial statements to be audited.
According to the AuGF, auditing of consolidated financial statements of the federal government on yearly basis would be expeditiously carried out once made available to his office.
He said: “You will recall that on March 25th this year, Audit of Consolidated Financial Statement of the federal government for 2018 was submitted to this office for the required investigation of queries raised in it by the National Assembly. Just five months after, we are here again to make submission of the 2019 Audit Report”.
Speaking further, Mr Aghughu lamented that his office was not performing optimally due to myriad factors crippling its operations and invariably giving room for all forms of financial infractions across the various MDAs.
He explained that, “One of such problems is the absence of Federal Audit Service Law, which is a big challenge as far as effective and efficient public sector auditing is concerned. This is a law that is needed as the basis of fiscal sustainability.
“Absence of it at the federal level is very worrisome going by the fact that some of the states of the federation have the required law in place.”
He also lamented that his office had been incapacitated in so many ways from functioning effectively and efficiently as far as the detection of mismanagement of public funds by the various MDAs was concerned.
“Another problem incapacitating optimal functionality of our mandate as far as thorough and appropriate auditing of financial statements of the MDAs are concerned is gross underfunding, which is telling much on our efficiency.
“For example, the office is understaffed but there is no money for recruitment. Imagine many of our state offices having just two or three staff. Auditing is done by a team not by an individual.
“Accommodation is also part of the problem as our staff in Lagos are about to be evicted from their office due to litigations. These are aside from the problem of insecurity seriously affecting our scope of coverage,” he added.
In his remarks, after receiving the audit report, Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr Bala Yabani, who stood in for the Clerk, said the report would be submitted to the Clerk for onward submission to both the President of the Senate, Mr Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, for the required legislative consideration.
According to him, all the complaints made by the AuGF would be tabled before the leadership of the parliament for required actions and solutions.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited sank deeper by 0.06 per cent on Thursday on the back of sustained profit-taking, particularly in the banking, energy and consumer goods sectors.
Business Post reports that the N4 per share dividend declared by Zenith Bank for the 2024 fiscal year yesterday could not trigger bargain-hunting as investor sentiment was weak.
It was observed that 22 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart and 28 stocks finished on the losers’ table, representing a negative market breadth index.
John Holt lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N7.74, Chams declined by 8.52 per cent to N2.04, Secure Electronic Technology shed 8.47 per cent to close at 54 Kobo, May and Baker slipped by 7.95 per cent to N8.10, and UPDC stumbled by 6.90 per cent to N2.70.
However, The Initiates gained 9.85 per cent to settle at N4.46, Mutual Benefits grew by 9.09 per cent to 96 Kobo, Universal Insurance climbed higher by 9.09 per cent to 60 Kobo, Royal Exchange rose by 8.99 per cent to 97 Kobo, and Learn Africa increased by 8.14 per cent to N3.32.
The insurance index was up during the session by 0.09 per cent, and the industrial goods counter marginally closed higher by 0.01 per cent, while the commodity sector was flat.
But, the banking space went down by 0.96 per cent, the energy industry depreciated by 0.35 per cent, and the consumer goods sector declined by 0.20 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 59.87 points to 105,426.12 points from 105,485.99 points, and the market capitalisation depleted by N38 billion to N66.110 trillion from N66.148 trillion.
A total of 423.6 million shares worth N9.2 billion were transacted in 11,393 deals on Thursday versus the 5.8 billion shares valued at N342.6 billion bought and sold in 10,908 deals on Wednesday, showing a rise in the number of deals by 4.45 per cent, and a fall in the trading volume and value by 92.65 per cent, and 97.32 per cent apiece.
The activity log was topped by Access Holdings with 65.0 million equities for N1.4 billion, Zenith Bank sold 41.5 million stocks for N2.0 billion, Fidelity Bank transacted 40.7 million shares worth N773.2 million, Secure Electronic Technology traded 38.4 million stocks valued at N20.8 million, and Tantalizers exchanged 31.5 million equities worth N89.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has launched a locally developed portal to enhance trade transparency, efficiency, and compliance.
The portal, called B-Odogwu, will provide a unified system for stakeholders, including shippers, terminal operators, and traders, to access and manage their information system.
According to a statement, the Comptroller Kano/Jigawa Command, Dalhat Abubakar, unveiled the program in Kano on Tuesday and described it as a safer, faster, and indigenous-owned system designed by the NCS for easy transactions.
He said the introduction of the B-Odogwu system was a significant step towards achieving a single National entry window and promoting transparency in trade facilitation.
According to him, “The new system is designed to ensure reliability, transparency, and compliance in trade facilitation.”
Mr Abubakar, however, stressed that the NCS has demonstrated competence and dedication in transitioning from service providers to the new system.
He added that the key features and benefits of the B-Odogwu system include faster processing and reduced downtime, enhanced reliability, and transparency.
Other benefits are improved compliance and reduced lack of compliance, a single national entry window with a single data movement, and trade facilitation and transparency.
He disclosed that “The NCS has commenced training for terminal operators, shippers, traders, and licensed agents to ensure a smooth transition to the new system.”
He further stated that “Over 16,000 declarations have been made on the B-Odogwu system since its introduction in January 2025.”
By Dipo Olowookere
The much-awaited listing of shares of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited may happen soon as the state-owned oil agency has expressed its readiness to join the nation’s capital market.
At a consultative meeting with partners at the NNPC Towers, Abuja, on Thursday, the Chief Finance and Investor Relations Officer (CFIO) of the NNPC, Mr Olugbenga Oluwaniy, said the process of listing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited is at the final stage.
The NNPC is required to make its stocks available to members of the public based on the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
The PIA provides for the NNPC Ltd to list its shares in the capital market in line with the provisions of the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 1990.
This exercise should have happened, but it has been delayed, but with the latest information, the wait may soon be over.
Mr Oluwaniyi, via a statement today by the company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Mr Olufemi Soneye, disclosed that NNPC was currently engaging with prospective partners in an exercise tagged NNPC Ltd. IPO Beauty Parade in line with capital market regulations before the commencement of the Initial Public Offer (IPO).
According to the CFIO, the aim of the IPO Beauty Parade is to access potential partners and determine in what ways they could be of support to the company.
He listed the areas of partnership required to include Investor Relations, IPO Readiness Advisers, and Investment Bank Partners, noting that the organisation with the best offer in terms of project partnership would be selected for each of the three categories.
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