KUALA LUMPUR: Former Treasury senior accountant Nik Ahmad Azmi Nik Md Daud has pushed back against calls for Sarawak or independent auditors to inspect Petronas’ accounts.
Nik Ahmad asserted that such demands contradict established governance frameworks.
“This is not how the system works, and more importantly, it should not work that way,” he told FMT in a statement.
Nik Ahmad emphasised that Petronas is already subject to robust oversight mechanisms, including internal controls and regulatory scrutiny at both the national and international levels.
“This is not about hiding the truth. The numbers are already audited,” he said, commenting on Gabungan Parti Sarawak assemblyman Wilfred Yap’s request for Sarawak to be given access to Petronas’ accounts to review costs, revenues and profit allocations.
Petronas is audited every year by globally recognised firms that are held to global standards.
Petronas integrated reports and audited financial statements also include an independent auditor’s report, reflecting professional scrutiny.
Its listed subsidiaries such as Petronas Gas Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd and Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd also publish financials under Bursa Malaysia rules.
“There is already independent scrutiny of the numbers by the highest order possible, way beyond what the proposed auditors could do. This is not a black box,” he said.
Nik Ahmad, who was also head of financial report and analysis for Malaysia in the Accountant General office, further noted that any serious misreporting by Petronas would have been caught by markets.
“Petronas is Malaysia’s largest single fiscal contributor. Its bonds are held by global investors. Its operations are tracked by every energy analyst in the region,” he said.
“If there was systematic under-declaration of revenue or inflated costs or hanky-panky, ratings agencies like Moody’s and S&P would be the first to sound the alarm.”
He stressed the difficulty of faking costs or hiding profits without it showing up in year-on-year margins.
“When margins get too far off industry benchmarks, people notice. Yet Petronas continues to hold strong investment-grade ratings and passes scrutiny every single year,” he said.
“So let us stop pretending this is some rogue outfit no one is watching.”
Meddling, Not Transparency
According to Nik Ahmad, Sarawak already receives regular reports on royalty and dividend payments.
“What is being asked for now is something else entirely — project-level cost recovery figures, internal pricing models, and deal terms. You do not see Texas demanding to audit ExxonMobil’s profit margins.”
He stressed that this is not transparency.
“This is asking for strategic data and to meddle in the running of Petronas that no national oil company or private major in the world discloses freely,” he added, noting that this is not how federalism works.
He added that oil and gas remain federal jurisdiction not because “Putrajaya is greedy” but because national consistency is critical in managing strategic resources.
“We cannot let every state audit federal assets whenever it does not like its share. Where does it stop?” he asked.
“Will Johor want to audit shipping lanes next? Will Kelantan want to verify income tax collection? This is not governance. It is chaos.”
While acknowledging Sarawak’s right to raise concerns, Nik Ahmad cautioned against bypassing proper channels for oversight such as federal audits, parliamentary reviews, royalty tracking and joint committees.
“If the state wants more transparency, it should be negotiated within those frameworks, not by trying to override the Petronas’ authority or demanding access to sensitive internal models.
“Let us debate these matters honestly through proper channels, in good faith and not by suggesting the current system is a cover-up,” he added.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
