The Senate has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to refund a staggering N210 trillion in unaccounted funds to the Federation Account, rejecting the explanations provided by the oil firm over discrepancies in its audited financial records.
The decision followed a report by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, which has been investigating NNPCL’s financial operations from 2017 to 2023.
The committee’s findings revealed two major inconsistencies — N103 trillion recorded as accrued expenses and N107 trillion listed as receivables which together formed the N210 trillion figure now in dispute.
Despite months of correspondence between the committee and the company, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, failed to appear before the panel during its resumed sitting on Tuesday, a development lawmakers described as “unacceptable.”
“NNPCL claimed N103 trillion as accrued expenses and N107 trillion as receivables amounting to N210 trillion.
Their explanation, particularly on the N107 trillion receivables (about $117 billion), contradicts facts and evidence from their own records,” Senator Wadada said.
He also questioned the company’s claim of paying N103 trillion in Cash Calls to joint venture partners in 2023 alone, despite generating only N24 trillion in total crude revenue between 2017 and 2022.
“Cash Call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under the Buhari administration.
”How then did NNPCL pay N103 trillion in one year when it earned only N24 trillion in five years? Where did that money come from?” he asked.
The senator described the figures as “unjustifiable and unacceptable,” insisting that the funds must be returned to the Treasury without delay.
The committee also criticized the company’s inconsistent explanations and noted that NNPCL’s management could have simply admitted its inability to provide accurate answers instead of presenting contradictory claims.
“If the current management is finding it difficult to clarify what happened to the funds, they should admit it.
”We will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPCL and NAPIMS to explain these irregularities,” Wadada warned.
The Senate committee vowed to continue its probe until the oil company provides a satisfactory account of the missing funds, emphasising that public accountability and transparency in national revenue management are non-negotiable.
