Senate summons Mele Kyari over alleged ₦210 Trillion unaccounted funds in NNPCL

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, to explain an alleged ₦210 trillion that was not properly accounted for between 2017 and 2023.

Kyari was summoned alongside a former Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajia Isa, and the former Group General Manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Bala Wunti.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada, issued the summons on Thursday after lawmakers reviewed audit reports concerning Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The committee warned that it could issue warrants of arrest against the former officials if they fail to appear before it on a date to be communicated soon.

Wadada disclosed the committee’s resolutions while briefing journalists after the meeting.

According to him, the former management team is expected to appear before the committee alongside the current leadership of NNPCL, led by the incumbent Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, as well as external auditors who worked with the company during the period under review.

The chairman said the committee also resolved that NNPCL must account for the ₦210 trillion flagged in audit reports, comprising ₦103 trillion and ₦107 trillion allegedly not properly explained in the company’s financial records.

He noted that the committee had earlier asked NNPCL 19 questions arising from the audit findings last year but was not satisfied with the responses provided.

According to the senator, the company claimed the ₦103 trillion represented cumulative spending by its joint venture partners through JV cash calls since 2017, an explanation the committee rejected.

Lawmakers also raised concerns about ₦107 trillion recorded as “sundry receivables” in NNPCL’s audited financial statements as of December 2023, which the company said was owed by several banks and other entities.

“When the two figures are combined, NNPCL needs to properly account for ₦210 trillion,” the committee said.

The lawmakers also questioned the reported expenditure of ₦5 billion used to change the company’s name from the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

“This to us in the committee is unacceptable, and satisfactory explanations must be given,” they said.

In another resolution, the committee directed NNPCL to refund to the treasury all production costs charged against crude oil revenue within the period under review, arguing that the company and its subsidiaries do not directly produce crude oil.

The committee also recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a forensic audit of NNPCL’s financial statements for the period in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution.

Kyari served as head of the national oil company from 2019 to 2025.

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