ABUJA: The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mr Mele Kyari, and members of his management team over alleged financial discrepancies amounting to N210 trillion.
Chairman of the committee, Sen. Ahmed Wadada, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday.
Wadada said the decision followed what lawmakers described as unsatisfactory responses from the NNPCL regarding queries raised on the company’s audited financial statements covering the period between 2017 and 2023.
He explained that the committee began its investigation in May 2025 after concerns emerged from a review of reports by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation for the years ending 2019 and 2020.
According to him, the panel also examined audited financial statements prepared by external auditors and financial records of the former National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), now known as NNPCL Upstream Investment Limited.
The committee raised 19 queries seeking clarifications on inconsistencies identified in the financial records.
However, Wadada said the explanations provided by the company were not satisfactory.
One of the issues raised involved N103 trillion recorded as accrued expenses in the company’s 2022 audited financial statement.
The expenses were listed as retention fees, legal fees and audit fees, but the accounts did not assign specific figures to each item.
He said NNPCL later explained that the amount represented cumulative spending by joint venture partners under the joint venture cash call arrangement.
The committee rejected the explanation, noting that the cash call regime had been abolished in 2016 and took effect from January 2017.
Lawmakers also queried N107 trillion recorded as sundry receivables as of December 2023.
According to Wadada, NNPCL claimed that part of the debt was owed by some defunct banks and other entities, but failed to provide a detailed breakdown identifying the institutions responsible.
The committee further observed an alleged duplication of subsidy deductions amounting to N3.8 trillion, which it said was deducted both from crude oil proceeds in the accounts of NAPIMS and from petroleum product proceeds in the books of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Wadada also raised concerns over 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 highlighted was N5.9 billion spent on incorporation expenses during the transition from NNPC to NNPCL, which lawmakers described as excessive.
Following the findings, the committee directed NNPCL to account for the combined N210 trillion arising from the unexplained accrued expenses and sundry receivables.
It also asked the company to refund all production costs charged against crude oil revenue within the period under review.
Those summoned include Kyari, former Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajiya and former Group General Manager of NAPIMS, Bala Wunti.
They are expected to appear before the committee alongside the current management of NNPCL and the external auditors responsible for the financial statements.
Wadada said the officials must provide detailed explanations on how the alleged infractions occurred.
He added that the committee had recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a forensic audit of NNPCL’s financial statements from 2017 to 2023, in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution.
The senator warned that the Senate would invoke its constitutional powers if the summoned officials failed to honour the invitation.
He added that the committee remained committed to ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of public funds while supporting the economic reform agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
