New Management Appoints KPMG to Audit Arik Air

• New Management Appoints KPMG to Audit Arik Air

The new management of Arik Air has announced the appointment of the firm of KPMG to undertake a forensic and diagnostic audit of the finances of the airline to ascertain the true state of its finances.

According to a statement by the new management of the carrier on Tuesday, the review will among other objectives cover the position of assets and liabilities and their utilisation; recording and utilisation of loans; and propriety of third party transactions.

It will also cover fraud controls over procurement, agents and business partners and financial reporting, and Arik Air’s financial position as of January 31, 2017.

The management said the report of the audit, which is expected to be delivered within 12 weeks, would also help the government to take necessary steps, either corrective or proactive, to reposition the airline.

The Federal Government had on Thursday, February 9, 2017, intervened in the airline’s operations following complaints of its huge indebtedness to various creditors running into over N300bn, frequent interruptions in its operations and concern for safety and security.

The statement said, “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 whole intention is to identify what went wrong with Arik to enable the new management to bring it back to full operations.”