By Danjuma Amodu | March 5, 2026
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned former Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajia Isa, and Dr. Bala Wunti over unaccounted N210 trillion expended by the company between 2017 and 2023. The Committee on Public Accounts threatened to issue a warrant of arrest if they failed to appear before it, citing unsatisfactory explanations for the missing funds.
The committee’s resolutions, read by Chairman Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed, include refunding the N210 trillion, comprising N103 trillion and N107 trillion not properly accounted for in audit reports. The NNPCL is also required to remit production costs charged against crude oil revenue to the treasury.
The committee questioned the N5 billion spent on renaming NNPC to NNPCL, deeming it unacceptable. It has directed the Auditor-General for the Federation to conduct a forensic audit review of NNPCL’s financial statements.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed ( Nasarawa West), who read out the resolutions to Journalists, explained that they summoned past management team of NNPCL, should be led by the incumbent GCEO, Engineer Bayo Ojulari.
Announcing the resolutions, Senator Wadada said: “NNPCL should refund the sum of N210 trillion, being the combined sum of N103 trillion and N107 trillion, which were not properly accounted for as contained in the audit reports.
“The second resolution of the committee is that the NNPCL should return to treasury all production costs charged against crude oil revenue for the period under review since the NNPC and its subsidiaries, NAPIMS and others do not directly produce crude oil.
“Thirdly, that Immediate past management of NNPCL and NAPIMS, i.e, Mele Kyari as the then GCEO, Umar Ajia Isa as the then CFO and Bala Wunti as the then GGM, NAPIMS, should and must appear before the committee and to be led by the present management with the entire body of the external auditors that served within the period under review.
Also, that the Auditor General for the Federation should carry out forensic audit review of the audited financial statements of NNPCL for the period under review in line with section 85 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended)”.
Senator Wadada added that the committee, as contained in the audit report, wondered how NNPC spent a whopping sum of N5 billion on change of name from NNPC to NNPCL.
“This to us in the committee, is unacceptable and satisfactory explanations must be given”, he said.
According to him, the committee came up with the resolutions due to the inability of NNPCL to give satisfactory answers to the 19 questions raised in the queries raised in the audit report .
NNPCL responded that the N103 trillion represented cumulative amounts expended by NNPCL Joint Venture Partners from JV Cash Calls 2017.
The Committee stated that it is unacceptable.
“The subsidy received by NNPCL, according to the audited financial statement, stood at N107 trillion.
As at December 2023, NNPCL recorded N107 trillion as sundry receivables, which it claims part of it were owed by some different banks and other entities. When put together, NNPCL needs to properly account for N210trillion” he explained .
The committee, however affirmed its legislative support to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led Federal government, whom they claimed is doing everything possible in ensuring transparency, probity and accountability in the management of public fund.
