The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned former Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, along with his former management team, over alleged N210 trillion discrepancies in the company’s accounts.
Chairman of the committee, Sen. Ahmed Wadada, announced the summons at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday, noting that the action follows what he described as “unsatisfactory and unacceptable” responses from NNPCL to audited financial statements covering 2017 to 2023.
“It is well known to the general public that this committee investigated the audited financial statement of NNPCL from 2017 to 2023,” Wadada 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.”
The inquiry began in May 2025 after concerns were raised during a review of reports from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation for the years ending 2019 and 2020. The committee also examined the financial records of the former National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), now known as NNPCL Upstream Investment Limited, for the same period.
Wadada said the committee raised 19 questions seeking clarifications on inconsistencies in NNPCL’s financial records, but the responses provided were deemed insufficient.
“One of the major issues raised by the committee was an accrued expenses figure of N103 trillion recorded in the company’s 2022 audited financial statements,” he said. “The expenses comprised retention fees, legal fees, and audit fees, yet no specific figures were assigned to the items in the accounts.”
NNPCL later explained that the amount represented cumulative spending by joint venture partners under the joint venture cash call arrangement. The committee rejected this explanation, noting that the cash call regime was abolished in 2016 and took effect from January 2017.
Other concerns include N107 trillion recorded as sundry receivables as of December 2023. While NNPCL claimed part of the amount was owed by defunct banks and other entities, lawmakers said the company failed to provide a detailed breakdown identifying the institutions responsible.
The committee also observed duplication of subsidy deductions amounting to N3.8 trillion, which was deducted from both crude oil proceeds in NAPIMS accounts and petroleum product proceeds in NNPC books. Wadada further highlighted N5 trillion charged as direct production costs between 2017 and 2021, despite the fact that NNPC and NAPIMS do not directly produce crude oil.
Another issue flagged was the N5.9 billion spent on incorporation expenses during the transition from NNPC to NNPCL, described by the committee as excessive.
Following these findings, the Senate panel resolved that NNPCL must account for the combined N210 trillion arising from the unexplained accrued expenses and sundry receivables. The company is also expected to refund all production costs charged against crude oil revenue during the period under review.
The committee, thereafter, summoned the immediate past management of NNPC and NAPIMS, including Kyari, former Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajiya, and former Group General Manager of NAPIMS, Bala Wunti. They are to appear alongside the current management of NNPCL and the external auditors who prepared the financial statements.
Officials are expected to provide detailed explanations on how the alleged infractions occurred. The panel has also recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a forensic audit of NNPCL financial statements from 2017 to 2023, in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Wadada warned that the Senate would invoke its constitutional powers if summoned officials fail to appear.
“Whoever this committee invites and refuses to come without satisfactory reasons, the needful will be done. We are empowered by the constitution and our rules of engagement here in the Senate,” he said.
The senator reiterated the committee’s commitment to promoting transparency and accountability in the management of public funds, expressing support for the economic reform agenda of President Bola Tinubu.