The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned a former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, alongside other former and current officials of the national oil firm over alleged financial discrepancies amounting to N210tn.
The committee chairman, Senator Ahmed Wadada, disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, saying the summons followed what lawmakers described as “unsatisfactory and unacceptable” responses from the oil company regarding its audited financial statements between 2017 and 2023.
Wadada said the investigation, which began in May 2025, was triggered by concerns raised in reports from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation covering the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years.
According to him, the committee also scrutinised audited financial statements prepared by external auditors as well as financial records of the former National Petroleum Investment Management Services, now known as NNPCL Upstream Investment Limited, for the same period.
He explained that the panel had raised 19 queries seeking clarification on several inconsistencies discovered in the company’s financial records, but noted that the responses received from the oil firm failed to address the concerns raised by lawmakers.
Among the major issues highlighted by the committee was an accrued expenses figure of N103tn recorded in the company’s 2022 audited financial statement.
Wadada said the amount was listed under retention fees, legal fees and audit fees but lacked specific breakdowns for the individual components.
“The explanation later given by the company was that the figure represented cumulative spending by joint venture partners under the joint venture cash call arrangement.
However, the committee rejected the claim because the cash call regime had been abolished in 2016 and took effect from January 2017,” he said.
The committee also queried N107tn recorded as sundry receivables in the company’s accounts as of December 2023.
According to Wadada, the NNPCL had claimed that part of the amount was owed by some defunct banks and other entities but failed to provide a detailed breakdown identifying the institutions responsible for the debts.
Lawmakers further raised concerns over an alleged duplication of subsidy deductions amounting to N3.8tn, which they said was deducted from crude oil proceeds in the accounts of NAPIMS and also from petroleum product proceeds in the books of the NNPC.
The committee also questioned the N5tn charged as direct production costs between 2017 and 2021, noting that both the NNPC and NAPIMS do not directly engage in crude oil production.
Another issue flagged by the panel was the N5.9bn reportedly spent as incorporation expenses during the transition of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which the committee described as excessive.
Following the findings, the committee directed the NNPCL to account for the combined N210tn arising from the unexplained accrued expenses and sundry receivables.
It also ordered the company to refund all production costs charged against crude oil revenues during the period under review.
Wadada said the panel had summoned Kyari, former Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajiya, and former Group General Manager of NAPIMS Bala Wunti to appear before it alongside the current management of the oil company and the external auditors responsible for preparing the financial statements.
He added that the officials were expected to provide detailed explanations on how the alleged discrepancies occurred.
The lawmaker further disclosed that the committee had recommended a forensic audit of the company’s financial statements from 2017 to 2023 by the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution.
He warned that the Senate would invoke its constitutional powers against any invited official who fails to honour the summons.
“Whoever this committee invites and refuses to appear without satisfactory reasons, the needful will be done. We are empowered by the constitution and our rules of engagement here in the Senate,” Wadada said.
He added that the committee remained committed to strengthening transparency and accountability in the management of public funds while supporting ongoing economic reforms by the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
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