Nigeria’s Senate has summoned the former chief executive of the state oil company, Mele Kyari, to explain what lawmakers describe as an unaccounted N210tn expenditure by the national oil firm between 2017 and 2023.
The upper chamber said Kyari and other former executives of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited must appear before a Senate committee investigating the spending, warning that arrest warrants could be issued if they fail to attend.
Also invited are the former chief financial officer, Umar Isa, and the former group general manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (Napims), Bala Wunti.
The committee’s chairman, Aliyu Wadada, said the former management team would be expected to appear alongside the current group chief executive, Bayo Ojulari, and external auditors who worked with the company during the period under review.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Wadada said lawmakers were seeking explanations for two major figures contained in the company’s audit reports.
“NNPCL should refund the sum of N210tn, being the combined sum of N103tn and N107tn, which were not properly accounted for as contained in the audit reports,” he said. “The NNPCL should and must account for the two figures.”
According to the committee, the N103tn relates to cumulative spending allegedly attributed to joint venture cash calls by partners of the oil company since 2017 — an explanation the panel described as unsatisfactory.
A further N107tn was recorded in the company’s audited financial statements as subsidy-related and other receivables owed by banks and other entities as of December 2023.
“When combined, NNPCL needs to properly account for N210tn,” Wadada said.
Lawmakers also questioned why about N5bn was reportedly spent on rebranding the corporation following its transition from the defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to a limited liability company under the Petroleum Industry Act.
The committee described the cost as excessive and demanded a detailed explanation from the company.
In addition, the panel recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a forensic review of the company’s financial statements for the period, citing section 85 of Nigeria’s constitution.
Despite the probe, senators stressed that the investigation was not aimed at undermining the government of Bola Tinubu but rather ensuring transparency in the management of public finances.
“The Federal Government remains committed to promoting transparency, probity and accountability,” Wadada said, adding that the committee’s work was intended to strengthen oversight of the country’s most important revenue-generating institution.
