The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned the immediate past management of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), including its former Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, over alleged financial discrepancies amounting to N210 trillion in the company’s audited financial statements from 2017 to 2023.
The development was disclosed by the chairman of the committee, Aliyu Wadada, during a press briefing at the National Assembly complex on Thursday.
According to the senator, the legislative inquiry was initiated to ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public funds within the national oil company.
The Senate committee said the investigation is being conducted under its constitutional oversight powers to examine the income and expenditure of government agencies.
Wadada added that the figures cannot be netted off under standard accounting principles and therefore require proper explanation or reconciliation.
The committee said it began the inquiry in May 2025 after identifying financial management lapses while reviewing reports from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation for the years ending 2019 and 2020.
Additionally, the panel raised concerns over an alleged duplication of N3.8 trillion in subsidy deductions recorded both in crude oil proceeds and petroleum product revenues.
The committee said explanations provided by the company on these issues were not satisfactory.
The Senate committee also flagged other financial transactions in the company’s records that it described as questionable.
NNPCL and NAPIMS reportedly charged about N5 trillion as direct production costs between 2017 and 2021, despite the entities not directly producing crude oil.
Lawmakers also queried N5.9 billion spent as incorporation expenses during the transition from NNPC to NNPCL.
The committee directed that all production costs charged against crude oil revenue during the period be refunded to the federation.
It also recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a forensic audit of the company’s financial statements covering 2017 to 2023.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts had earlier ordered NNPCL’s Group CEO, Bayo Ojulari, to appear on July 10 to respond to audit queries over a reported N210 trillion unaccounted for between 2017 and 2023, as reported by Naijaonpoint.
The directive, issued at a June 26 session, came with a warning that failure to appear could result in an arrest warrant.
Following Ojulari’s absence on the scheduled date, the committee reaffirmed its demand, stressing that he must appear before it to address the financial infractions raised in the audit report.
Following Ojulari’s absence on the scheduled date, the committee reaffirmed its demand, stressing that he must appear before it to address the financial infractions raised in the audit report.