New management of Arik hires KPMG to audit airline’s financial status
The new management of Arik Air has appointed KPMG, one of the big four audit firms in the world, to undertake a forensic and diagnostic audit to ascertain the true status of its finances.
The audit will among other objectives cover “the position of assets and liabilities, and their utilisation; recording and utilisation of loans, propriety of third party transactions; fraud controls over Procure to Pay (‘PtP’), agents and business partners and financial reporting and Arik Air’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. We need to do that because the outcome will help us plug the loopholes and stabilise the airline,” the new management said via a statement.
“The whole intention is to identify what went wrong with Arik to enable the new management to bring it back to full operations.”
The federal government, through the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), intervened last week in the airline following complaints of huge indebtedness of the airline to various creditors and the frequent interruptions in its operations, and the concern to safety and security.
The forensic audit move is the most sensible thing to do now under the prevailing circumstances. This should give a clearer picture of the status of the company going forward.