By Amah
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Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber has opened a sweeping investigation into alleged financial discrepancies totaling about N210 trillion in the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), summoning its former Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, and several past top officials to explain the contentious figures.
The development was announced in Abuja by Ahmed Wadada, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, who disclosed that the panel had concluded a preliminary review of the oil company’s audited financial statements spanning 2017 to 2023.
According to Wadada, the committee’s decision followed what lawmakers described as unsatisfactory explanations provided by the state-owned oil company regarding several irregular entries discovered in its books.
The investigation itself began in May 2025 after the committee reviewed reports submitted by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation covering the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years. Those reports raised red flags that prompted lawmakers to undertake a broader examination of NNPCL’s financial statements, including records from the former National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), now operating as NNPCL Upstream Investment Limited.
Wadada said the committee issued 19 separate queries to NNPCL seeking clarification on inconsistencies discovered in the company’s financial disclosures. However, he noted that the responses received from the management failed to adequately address the concerns raised by lawmakers.
Among the most contentious issues is an accrued expenses entry of N103 trillion recorded in the company’s 2022 audited financial statements. The expenses were reportedly attributed to items such as retention fees, legal fees, and audit charges. Lawmakers said the accounts did not provide a clear breakdown assigning specific amounts to these categories.
NNPCL later told the committee that the figure represented cumulative spending by joint venture partners under the joint venture cash call arrangement. But the explanation did not satisfy lawmakers, who argued that the cash call regime had been discontinued in 2016 and formally replaced in 2017, making the justification questionable.
Another major concern involves N107 trillion listed as “sundry receivables” in the company’s financial records as of December 2023. According to the committee, NNPCL indicated that part of the debt was owed by certain defunct banks and other entities, but it did not provide a detailed breakdown identifying the institutions responsible.
Lawmakers also flagged what they described as a duplication of fuel subsidy deductions totaling about N3.8 trillion. The committee said the subsidy was deducted from crude oil proceeds in the accounts of NAPIMS and again from petroleum product proceeds recorded in the books of the former NNPC.
Further scrutiny revealed N5 trillion recorded as direct production costs between 2017 and 2021, a charge the committee questioned on the grounds that neither NNPC nor NAPIMS directly produces crude oil. Another controversial entry involved N5.9 billion reportedly spent on incorporation expenses during the transition of the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation into a limited liability company.
Following its preliminary findings, the committee concluded that NNPCL must account for the combined N210 trillion linked to the unexplained accrued expenses and receivables.
To shed more light on the matter, the Senate panel has summoned Kyari and other former senior officials, including the former Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajiya, and former NAPIMS chief Bala Wunti. They are expected to appear before the committee alongside the current management of NNPCL and the external auditors responsible for preparing the financial statements.
Wadada said the officials would be required to provide detailed explanations on how the disputed figures arose and whether any financial infractions occurred during the period under review.
The committee has also recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a full forensic audit of NNPCL’s financial statements from 2017 to 2023, citing provisions of Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution.
Wadada warned that the Senate would not hesitate to invoke its constitutional powers if any of the summoned officials refused to honour the invitation without valid reasons.
He maintained that the probe is part of the legislature’s responsibility to ensure transparency in the management of public resources and pledged that the investigation would be thorough.
The inquiry comes at a time when Nigeria’s oil sector is under intense scrutiny amid economic reforms by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with calls growing for greater accountability in the management of the country’s most critical revenue-generating industry.
