The Nigerian Senate has rejected the explanations provided by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) concerning the ₦210 trillion discrepancy uncovered in the company’s financial records, ordering that the money be refunded to the Federation Account.
The decision followed the failure of the NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, during its resumed session at the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The committee, which has been investigating the issue for months, had invited the NNPCL to clarify inconsistencies in its audited financial statements from 2017 to 2023. The documents reportedly showed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables—a combined total of ₦210 trillion that the Senate said remains unaccounted for.
Despite submitting written responses to 19 queries raised by the panel, the NNPCL’s explanations were deemed “unsatisfactory and contradictory.”
Senator Wadada, while addressing journalists after the session, said, “NNPC claimed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables, amounting to ₦210 trillion. Regarding question eight, NNPC’s explanation of the ₦107 trillion receivables—equivalent to approximately $117 billion—contradicts the available facts and evidence provided by NNPC itself. The committee is duty-bound to reject this.”
The lawmaker questioned how the oil firm could claim to have paid ₦103 trillion in Cash Calls to Joint Venture (JV) partners in 2023 alone when its total crude oil revenue between 2017 and 2022 amounted to only ₦24 trillion.
“Cash Call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. How can NNPC claim to have paid ₦103 trillion in one year when it only generated ₦24 trillion in revenue over five years? Where did NNPC get that money? As far as this committee is concerned, that figure is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The ₦103 trillion must be returned to the Treasury,” Wadada declared.
He added that the committee expected transparency from the NNPCL’s current management rather than inconsistent justifications.
“If the present management of NNPCL is finding it difficult to provide acceptable answers, it is better that they say so. The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPCL and NAPIMS,” he warned.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts said the matter would be concluded once NNPCL officials appear before it again to address the unresolved financial discrepancies.
What You Should Know
The Senate’s probe into NNPCL’s ₦210 trillion unaccounted funds underscores growing concerns over transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s oil sector.
The alleged inconsistencies in the company’s financial statements could have major fiscal implications for the Federation Account, heightening calls for deeper scrutiny of NNPCL’s post-privatisation operations.
