KEY POINTS

• The Senate committee flagged N103 trillion in JV cash calls and N107 trillion in sundry receivables.
• Lawmakers also questioned N5 billion spent on rebranding NNPC to NNPCL.
• The committee recommended a forensic audit of NNPCL’s financials under Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution.

Nigeria’s Senate committee on public accounts has summoned former Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited chief executive Mele Kyari to answer questions about N210 trillion that audit reports say the company did not properly account for between 2017 and 2023.

Committee chairman Senator Aliyu Wadada issued the summons Thursday after reviewing those audit findings and concluding that NNPCL‘s earlier responses fell well short of acceptable. Kyari faces the committee alongside former chief financial officer Umar Ajia Isa and former group general manager of National Petroleum Investment Management Services Bala Wunti. Current GCEO Bayo Ojulari and the external auditors who worked with the company during the period also received invitations to appear.

Wadada made clear the committee is not in a patient mood. Officials who ignore the summons could face arrest warrants.

Two Numbers, One Big Problem

The N210 trillion figure breaks into two parts. The first is N103 trillion that NNPCL claimed represents cumulative spending by joint venture partners through JV cash calls since 2017. The committee rejected that explanation outright. The second is N107 trillion that the company’s audited financial statements record as “sundry receivables” as of December 2023, which NNPCL said several banks and other entities owe it. The committee found that answer equally unsatisfying.

“When the two figures are combined, NNPCL needs to properly account for N210 trillion,” the committee said.

The lawmakers noted they had put 19 questions to NNPCL arising from the audit findings last year and received responses they did not accept as adequate.

Rebranding Costs Also Under the Microscope

Beyond the headline figures, the committee took direct aim at a separate line item: the N5 billion the company reportedly spent changing its name from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. “This to us in the committee is unacceptable, and satisfactory explanations must be given,” the lawmakers said.

Additionally, the committee directed NNPCL to refund all production costs it charged against crude oil revenue during the review period, arguing the company and its subsidiaries do not directly produce crude oil. It also recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a full forensic audit of NNPCL’s financial statements in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution. Kyari led the national oil company from 2019 to 2025.