AMCON appoints KPMG to audit Arik Air

The new management of Arik Airlines has appointed international audit firm, KPMG, to undertake a forensic audit of the finances of the airline.

Part of KPMG’s mandate is to ascertain the true status of the airline’s finances.

A statement released by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, Monday, said the review will among other objectives cover the position of the company’s asset and liabilities; their utilisation; recording and utilisation of loans; and propriety of third party transactions.

Other objectives of the audit exercise, according to the statement, include looking into fraud controls over Procure to Pay (PtP); agents, business partners, and financial reporting; and Arik Airline’s financial position as at January 31, 2017.

The report is expected to be delivered within 12 weeks.

“We have hired KPMG to look into the financials of Arik with a tooth comb and advise us with verifiable facts on what went wrong with the airline,” the statement said.

“We need to do that because the outcome will help us plug the loopholes and stabilise the airline.”

The statement noted that the overall purpose was to identify what went wrong with Arik, Nigeria’s largest airline, to enable the new management bring it back to full operations.

AMCON had on February 9 taken over the airline’s operations following complaints of huge indebtedness to various creditors and the frequent interruptions in its operations.

The organisation on Sunday announced that the airline was in a “huge mess” and was poorly managed