KEY POINTS
- The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned former NNPCL Group CEO Mele Kyari and his management team over alleged N210 trillion financial discrepancies.
- Chairman Sen. Ahmed Wadada described NNPCL’s responses to audited statements between 2017 and 2023 as “unsatisfactory and unacceptable.”
- Key issues include N103 trillion in unexplained “accrued expenses” and N107 trillion in “sundry receivables” lacking a detailed breakdown.
- The committee has recommended a forensic audit of NNPCL financial statements from 2017 to 2023 by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
MAIN STORY
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has moved to hold the former and current leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) accountable for massive financial gaps discovered in the company’s records. Chairman of the committee, Senator Ahmed Wadada, announced on Thursday that the panel is investigating a combined N210 trillion in discrepancies found between 2017 and 2023.
Wadada noted that the inquiry, which began in May 2025, follows a thorough review of reports from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
The committee specifically questioned a N103 trillion figure recorded as “accrued expenses” in the 2022 audited financial statements. While NNPCL claimed these represented cumulative spending by joint venture partners under the joint venture cash call arrangement, the committee rejected the explanation, noting that the cash call regime had been abolished in 2016. Furthermore, the committee queried N107 trillion recorded as “sundry receivables,” noting that NNPCL failed to provide a detailed breakdown identifying the specific institutions responsible for the debts.
Additional infractions highlighted by the committee include a N3.8 trillion duplication of subsidy deductions and N5 trillion charged as “direct production costs” between 2017 and 2021—costs the committee argues NNPCL and its upstream arm, NAPIMS, should not have incurred as they do not directly produce crude oil. Consequently, the committee has summoned the immediate past management, including Mele Kyari, former CFO Umar Ajiya, and former NAPIMS head Bala Wunti, to appear alongside external auditors to provide detailed explanations for these alleged infractions.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
- “The investigation lingered… because we wanted to do a very thorough job so that the outcome will not be ambiguous and will send the right signal to the public,” stated Sen. Ahmed Wadada, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.
- “Whoever this committee invites and refuses to come without satisfactory reasons, the needful will be done. We are empowered by the constitution.”
- “NNPCL must account for the combined N210 trillion arising from the unexplained accrued expenses and sundry receivables.”
WHAT’S NEXT
- Mele Kyari and the identified former management team are expected to appear before the Senate panel alongside current NNPCL management and external auditors.
- The Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation is expected to conduct a forensic audit of the 2017–2023 financial statements in line with the 1999 Constitution.
- The Senate may invoke its constitutional powers to take further action if the summoned officials fail to appear before the committee.
BOTTOM LINE
The Bottom Line is that the Senate is demanding absolute transparency over the largest financial discrepancy in the history of Nigeria’s oil sector. By summoning the former leadership, the Public Accounts Committee is signaling that NNPCL must provide a detailed account for N210 trillion in unexplained expenses and receivables to uphold public accountability.
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