The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, along with members of his former management team, over alleged financial discrepancies totalling about N210 trillion
Chairman of the committee, Senator Ahmed Wadada, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, explaining that the action followed what lawmakers described as unsatisfactory explanations provided by the oil company regarding its audited financial records from 2017 to 2023.
Wadada said the committee had been reviewing the company’s financial statements for several months, stressing that the prolonged investigation was to ensure a thorough examination that would provide clear answers to the public.
“It is well known to the general public that this committee investigated the audited financial statement of NNPCL from 2017 to 2023,” he said.
“The investigation lingered, not because the committee abandoned it but 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.”
According to him, the inquiry began in May 2025 after lawmakers examined reports issued by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation for the years ending 2019 and 2020.
He explained that the committee subsequently studied the audited financial statements prepared by external auditors and also reviewed the financial records of the former National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), now known as NNPCL Upstream Investment Limited, covering the same period.
Wadada revealed that the committee had earlier sent 19 queries to NNPCL requesting clarification on several inconsistencies observed in the accounts. However, he said the responses received from the company did not adequately address the concerns raised.
One of the major issues, according to the lawmaker, was an entry of N103 trillion listed as accrued expenses in the company’s 2022 audited financial statement.
He noted that the expenses were said to include retention fees, legal fees and audit charges, yet the records did not provide a detailed breakdown of the figures.
The senator said NNPCL later explained that the amount represented cumulative spending by joint venture partners under the joint venture cash call arrangement. However, the committee rejected the explanation, noting that the cash call system had already been scrapped in 2016 and fully took effect from January 2017.
The committee also questioned another N107 trillion recorded as sundry receivables in the company’s accounts as of December 2023. According to Wadada, the company claimed that part of the money was owed by some defunct banks and other organisations but failed to provide a detailed list identifying the institutions responsible for the debts.
Lawmakers further raised concerns over a duplication of subsidy deductions amounting to N3.8 trillion, which they said appeared to have been removed both from crude oil earnings recorded by NAPIMS and from petroleum product revenues reflected in NNPC’s books.
Wadada also questioned about N5 trillion recorded as direct production costs between 2017 and 2021, pointing out that neither NNPC nor NAPIMS directly produces crude oil.
Another issue highlighted was the N5.9 billion reportedly spent on incorporation expenses during the transition from NNPC to NNPCL, which the committee described as excessive.
Following the findings, the committee directed that the company must provide explanations for the combined N210 trillion linked to the unexplained accrued expenses and receivables.
The panel also instructed that any production costs wrongly charged against crude oil revenue during the period under review should be refunded.
As part of the investigation, the committee has summoned several former officials of the corporation, including Kyari, former Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajiya, and the former Group General Manager of NAPIMS, Bala Wunti, to appear before it.
