• Senate accuses NNPCL of financial opacity and misrepresentation of accounts
• Lawmakers query N103trn in “cash calls” despite low revenue between 2017–2022
• Committee insists on refund, demands GCEO’s physical appearance before panel
The Senate has rejected explanations offered by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over the alleged N210 trillion missing from its financial records, ordering that the entire sum be refunded to the Federation Account.
The decision followed the absence of the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bayo Ojulari, who failed to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts at the National Assembly on Tuesday, despite being scheduled to clarify discrepancies in the company’s audited statements.
ATTENTION: Click “HERE” to join our WhatsApp group and receive News updates directly on your WhatsApp!
According to the committee, the sum in question includes ₦103 trillion listed as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion recorded as receivables between 2017 and 2023. Lawmakers said both figures were “unjustifiable” and lacked credible documentation.
Committee chairman, Senator Aliyu Wadada, declared the company’s responses “contradictory and unacceptable.” He said:
“NNPC claimed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables, amounting to ₦210 trillion. Their explanation contradicts available facts and evidence. The committee is duty-bound to reject this.”
Wadada questioned how NNPCL could have paid ₦103 trillion in cash calls to joint venture partners in 2023, even though it generated only ₦24 trillion in crude oil revenue between 2017 and 2022. He reminded the firm that cash call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He added:
“How can NNPC claim to have paid ₦103 trillion in one year when it only earned ₦24 trillion in five years? That figure is unjustifiable. The money must be returned to the treasury.”
The committee also dismissed NNPCL’s explanation that part of the ₦107 trillion receivables was held in “defunct banks,” noting that no bank was identified and no proof presented.
Lawmakers further accused the company of charging illegal subsidies on both crude and refined petroleum products — a move they described as a violation of Nigerian law.
“Between 2017 and 2021, NAPIMS charged subsidies on crude oil, which is illegal. There is nowhere in our laws that subsidy is allowed on crude,” Wadada said.
READ ALSO: FG Seeks ₦150bn to Fund Vaccine Procurement for 2025–2026 — Edun
He warned that the panel would compel former NNPCL and NAPIMS officials to appear if the current management failed to provide a satisfactory defence.
Supporting the committee’s stance, Senator Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe condemned the oil firm’s conduct, saying:
“Some people think NNPCL is above the country. Charging subsidy on crude and refined products is fraud. The sums involved are larger than what our president is struggling to borrow abroad.”
The Senate vowed to summon Mr Ojulari again, insisting that his physical presence at the next hearing was non-negotiable.
