The Nigerian Senate has rejected explanations from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over ₦210 trillion in unaccounted funds, directing that the money be refunded to the Federation Account.
The decision followed the absence of the NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, at the resumed hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada.
The committee has been probing the firm’s audited financial statements from 2017 to 2023, which revealed unexplained transactions amounting to ₦103 trillion in accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion in receivables.
Despite months of correspondence between the committee and the NNPCL, senators found the company’s 19 written responses “unsatisfactory and contradictory.”
Senator Wadada noted that the figures provided by NNPCL failed to align with verifiable data, particularly its claim of ₦107 trillion in receivables—equivalent to about $117 billion.
“NNPC claimed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables, amounting to ₦210 trillion. On question eight, NNPC’s explanation on the ₦107 trillion receivables contradicts available facts and evidence provided by NNPC itself. The committee is duty-bound to reject this,” Wadada said.
Cash Call Controversy Deepens Scrutiny
Lawmakers were also puzzled by the company’s claim that it paid ₦103 trillion in cash calls to Joint Venture partners in 2023 alone, even though it reportedly earned just ₦24 trillion in crude revenue from 2017 to 2022.
“Cash Call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under the Buhari administration. How can NNPC claim to have paid ₦103 trillion in one year when it only generated ₦24 trillion over five years? Where did the company get that money?” the senator queried.
Wadada said the committee viewed the figure as “unjustifiable and unacceptable,” insisting that the ₦103 trillion must be refunded to the national treasury once the NNPCL reappears before the panel.
The committee hinted it might summon former NNPCL and NAPIMS officials if the current management cannot provide credible answers.
Wadada advised the oil firm’s leadership to acknowledge any gaps in record-keeping instead of offering contradictory reports.
“If the present management of NNPCL is finding it difficult to provide acceptable answers, it is better they say so. The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPCL and NAPIMS,” he warned.
There have always been public concerns regarding NNPCL’s financial transparency and fiscal accountability over the years.
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