The last is yet
to be heard about the missing $10.8 billion as the Coordinating Minister
for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday
assured that the report of the audit into the unaccounted $10.8 billion oil
money would be ready soon.
Speaking at the
Financial Times Africa Summit 2014 in London, with the theme, “Consolidating
the Continent’s Rise”, she said the figure was not new but had been a source of
discussions between the Ministry of Finance and the Petroleum Ministry and that
the huge attention it generated prompted the government to take steps leading
to the appointment of PriceWater House Coopers to do a forensic audit.
“Initially it
was $48 billion, then $20 billion but the figure we have always had is $10.8
billion. I am the Minister of Finance; if money is missing, I want it to be
used for good things for the country and that was why when we went to the
Senate to demand for forensic audit, the President supported and asked that it
should be done
“We engaged
PriceWater House Coopers with the Auditor General taking the lead. They
initially asked for 16 weeks to complete the work. They have spent 11 or 12
weeks so far and they will be done in a couple of weeks,” she said.
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