The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, to explain an alleged ₦210 trillion flagged as unaccounted for in the company’s audit reports covering 2017 to 2023.
Kyari was summoned alongside former Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajia Isa, and former Group General Manager of National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Bala Wunti.
Chairman of the committee, Aliyu Wadada, issued the summons on Thursday after lawmakers reviewed the company’s audited financial statements. He said the former management team is expected to appear before the committee alongside the current NNPCL leadership led by Group CEO Bayo Ojulari, as well as external auditors who handled the company’s accounts during the period.
Wadada said the committee could issue arrest warrants if the summoned officials fail to honour the invitation.
According to him, the ₦210 trillion query stems from two figures flagged in audit reports—₦103 trillion and ₦107 trillion—which lawmakers say were not satisfactorily explained in the company’s records.
The committee said NNPCL had earlier claimed the ₦103 trillion represented cumulative spending by joint venture partners through JV cash calls since 2017, but lawmakers rejected the explanation.
It also raised concerns over ₦107 trillion recorded as “sundry receivables” in the company’s audited financial statements as of December 2023, which NNPCL said was owed by several banks and other entities.
“When the two figures are combined, NNPCL needs to properly account for ₦210 trillion,” Wadada said.
The lawmakers also queried the reported expenditure of ₦5 billion for the transition of the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, describing the cost as unacceptable and demanding further clarification.
In another resolution, the committee directed NNPCL to refund production costs charged against crude oil revenue within the period under review, arguing that the company and its subsidiaries do not directly produce crude oil.
The Senate panel further recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a forensic audit of NNPCL’s financial statements for the period, in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution.
Kyari served as head of NNPCL from 2019 to 2025.
