By Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
THE Nigerian Senate has summoned the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, alongside two other top officials, to account for a staggering N210 trillion allegedly expended by the company between 2017 and 2023 without proper documentation.
The Senate Public Accounts Committee has threatened to issue arrest warrants should the former management team fail to appear on a date to be communicated shortly. The lawmakers are particularly perplexed by the spending of a whopping N5 billion on the company’s rebranding from NNPC to NNPCL.
The resolutions were handed down on Thursday following a closed-door session of the committee. Chairman of the panel, Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed (Nasarawa West), addressed Senate Correspondents, revealing that the current Group CEO, Engineer Bayo Ojulari, is to lead the summoned past management before the committee.
Senator Wadada outlined the committee’s resolutions point by point, declaring that the NNPCL must refund the sum of N210 trillion. “This is the combined sum of N103 trillion and N107 trillion, which were not properly accounted for as contained in the audit reports. NNPCL must account for these two figures,” he insisted.
He further stated that the company should remit to the treasury all production costs charged against crude oil revenue for the period under review, arguing that the NNPCL and its subsidiaries do not directly produce crude oil.
The summon specifically names the immediate past management of NNPCL and NAPIMS: Mele Kyari (former GCEO), Umar Ajia Isa (former CFO), and Bala Wunti (former GGM, NAPIMS). They are to appear before the committee, led by the current management and accompanied by all external auditors who served during the period in question.
In a significant escalation, the committee has also called on the Auditor General for the Federation to conduct a forensic audit review of the NNPCL’s financial statements for the years in question, in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Senator Wadada expressed the committee’s dismay over the N5 billion spent on the name change. “This to us in the committee is unacceptable and satisfactory explanations must be given,” he said.
The summons stem from the NNPCL’s inability to provide satisfactory answers to 19 questions raised from queries in the audit report. The committee clarified that the N103 trillion represents cumulative amounts expended by NNPCL Joint Venture Partners from JV Cash Calls in 2017, deeming the company’s initial response unacceptable.
Regarding the N107 trillion, the committee explained it is recorded as subsidy receivables and sundry debts owed by various banks and entities as of December 2023. “When put together, NNPCL needs to properly account for N210 trillion,” the Senator added.
Despite the stringent action, the committee affirmed its legislative support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, acknowledging its efforts to ensure transparency, probity, and accountability in the management of public funds.
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