ABUJA: The Nigerian Senate has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to refund ₦210 trillion reportedly unaccounted for in its audited financial records to the Federation Account.
The upper chamber reached the decision after rejecting explanations submitted by the oil company in response to audit queries raised by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada.
The resolution followed the failure of the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Bayo Ojulari, to appear before the committee at its resumed hearing on Tuesday.
The session was convened to allow the company clarify inconsistencies in its written responses to 19 audit questions concerning the ₦210 trillion figure.
After months of review of the company’s operations between 2017 and 2023, the committee said it discovered two suspicious financial items in NNPCL’s books ₦103 trillion in accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion in receivables without satisfactory explanation.
Addressing the committee, Senator Wadada declared that the NNPCL’s explanations were contradictory and unsatisfactory, insisting that the funds must be returned to the national treasury.
NNPCL claimed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables amounting to ₦210 trillion.
On question eight, NNPCL’s explanation of the ₦107 trillion receivables, equivalent to about $117 billion, contradicts facts and evidence provided by the company itself. The committee is duty-bound to reject this,Wadada said.
He also questioned the company’s claim of paying ₦103 trillion in cash calls to Joint Venture partners in 2023 alone, despite generating only ₦24 trillion in crude oil revenue between 2017 and 2022.
Cash call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under the Buhari administration. How then can NNPCL claim to have paid ₦103 trillion in one year? Where did the company get that money? he queried
The committee maintained that it would have been more transparent for the current NNPCL management to admit challenges in explaining the discrepancies rather than provide conflicting responses.
If the present management is finding it difficult to provide acceptable answers, they should say so, Wadada added.
“The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPCL and NAPIMS to explain what happened to the funds.
He affirmed that the panel would conclude its findings after NNPCL appears before it, noting that the ₦103 trillion cash call and ₦107 trillion receivables must be properly accounted for.
The ongoing probe, which spans six years (2017–2023), was initiated after the Senate’s review of NNPCL’s financial statements revealed huge unexplained balances.
Lawmakers have described the ₦210 trillion discrepancy as “unjustifiable and unacceptable, saying the recovery of the funds would significantly improve federal revenue and strengthen transparency in the oil sector.
