Senate probes alleged ₦210tn gap in NNPCL accounts, summons ex-chief Mele Kyari
Nigeria’s Senate has launched a probe into an alleged ₦210tn discrepancy in the financial records of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), summoning its former group chief executive officer, Mele Kyari, and other ex-senior officials to explain figures flagged in audit reports covering 2017 to 2023.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts issued the summons on Thursday after reviewing audit queries indicating that trillions of naira recorded in the company’s accounts were not satisfactorily explained.
The committee’s chairman, Senator Aliyu Wadada, said Kyari would appear alongside the company’s former chief financial officer, Umar Ajia Isa, and a former group general manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Bala Wunti.
Lawmakers warned that arrest warrants could be issued if the former executives failed to honour the invitation once a hearing date is communicated.
According to Wadada, the panel is seeking clarification on a combined ₦210tn highlighted in the national oil company’s audited financial statements. The amount consists of ₦103tn which the NNPCL attributed to cumulative joint venture cash calls spent by partners since 2017, and ₦107tn listed as “sundry receivables” in its accounts as of December 2023.
However, the committee said the explanations previously provided by the company did not sufficiently address concerns raised by the auditors.
“We asked the NNPCL 19 questions arising from the audit reports last year, but the responses we received were not satisfactory,” Wadada told journalists after the committee’s meeting.
The panel is also questioning a reported ₦5bn expenditure used to change the company’s name from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, describing the cost as excessive and demanding further justification.
Beyond the financial discrepancies, lawmakers directed the NNPCL to refund production costs charged against crude oil revenue to the treasury during the period under review. The committee argued that the company and its subsidiaries do not directly produce crude oil and therefore should not deduct such costs from national earnings.
As part of its resolutions, the committee recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a forensic audit of the company’s financial statements for the period, in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution.
Kyari led the national oil company from 2019 until 2025, overseeing its transition from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation into a limited liability company under the Petroleum Industry Act. The Senate probe now places his tenure under fresh scrutiny as lawmakers seek to determine how the flagged trillions were recorded and whether the figures reflect accounting explanations or deeper financial irregularities.