The Nigerian Senate has rejected the explanations provided by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) regarding ₦210 trillion in unaccounted funds, insisting the oil firm must refund the money to the Federation Account.
The decision followed the absence of NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, at the resumed sitting of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday.
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The committee, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, had been probing the firm’s finances for several months and had previously submitted 19 questions to the company concerning discrepancies in its financial statements.
The committee’s review of NNPCL’s operations between 2017 and 2023 showed unexplained transactions totalling ₦210 trillion, split between ₦103 trillion in accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion in receivables.
Despite multiple follow-ups, the company’s responses were deemed contradictory and unsatisfactory.
“NNPCL claimed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables—equivalent to about $117 billion. On question eight, NNPCL’s explanation for the ₦107 trillion contradicts facts and evidence provided by the company itself. The committee is duty-bound to reject this,” Senator Wadada stated.
He further questioned the justification for NNPCL allegedly paying ₦103 trillion in Cash Calls to Joint Venture (JV) partners in 2023 alone, despite generating only ₦24 trillion in crude revenue from 2017 to 2022.
“Cash Call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under the Buhari administration. How can NNPCL claim to have paid ₦103 trillion in one year when it only generated ₦24 trillion in revenue over five years? Where did the money come from?” he asked.
The committee emphasised that the current management should have acknowledged challenges in explaining the funds instead of providing conflicting answers.
“If the present NNPCL management is finding it difficult to provide acceptable explanations, it is better they admit it. The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPCL and NAPIMS if necessary,” Wadada added.
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