Nigeria’s Senate has summoned former oil chief Mele Kyari and other past executives of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over alleged financial discrepancies amounting to about ₦210 trillion.
The summons was issued by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts as part of an ongoing investigation into the company’s audited financial statements covering the period between 2017 and 2023.
Speaking to journalists at the National Assembly on Thursday, the chairman of the committee, Aliyu Wadada, said the inquiry was initiated to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of public funds.
“The Senate Public Accounts Committee, in the exercise of its constitutional mandate, embarked on a status inquiry into the income and expenditure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited,” Wadada said.
According to him, the investigation began in May 2025 after lawmakers observed possible financial management lapses while reviewing reports from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
The committee said it identified several areas of concern after examining the company’s financial records. One of the issues raised was about ₦103 trillion recorded as accrued expenses in the company’s 2022 audited accounts.
“These accrued expenses were listed as retention fees, legal fees and audit fees, but no specific figures were attached to each item,” Wadada said.
“I repeat that the retention fees, legal fees and audit fees that were said to make up the ₦103 trillion had no individual figures attached to them.”
The committee said the oil company later explained that the amount represented cumulative spending by joint-venture partners under a cash-call arrangement. However, Wadada said the explanation was not convincing because the cash-call system was abolished in 2016.
“This position contradicts the disclosures in the audited financial accounts, and for that reason the committee finds this explanation unacceptable,” he added.
Lawmakers also raised concerns over about ₦107 trillion recorded as “sundry receivables” in the company’s accounts as of December 2023.
“As of December 2023, NNPCL recorded ₦107 trillion as sundry receivables which it claimed were owed by some defunct banks and other entities,” Wadada said.
“However, the company was unable to provide a clear breakdown identifying the banks or entities responsible for these amounts. This is also unacceptable to the committee.”
The panel further alleged that there may have been a duplication of fuel subsidy deductions amounting to ₦3.8 trillion, as the costs appeared to have been deducted from different revenue streams.
Wadada also questioned about ₦5 trillion recorded as direct production costs between 2017 and 2021.
“NNPCL and NAPIMS admitted charging ₦5 trillion as direct production costs between 2017 and 2021,” he said.
“However, NNPC and NAPIMS do not produce crude oil. Charging such costs against crude oil revenue is unacceptable.”
The committee also expressed concern over ₦5.9 billion reportedly spent during the transition of the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation into NNPCL as a commercial entity.
“This resulted in a combined total of ₦5.9 billion being spent simply to change the name from NNPC to NNPCL. This is unacceptable,” Wadada said.
He added that the committee has directed the company to account for the combined ₦210 trillion linked to unexplained accrued expenses and receivables.
“The immediate past management, including Mele Kyari and other senior officials, must appear before the committee alongside the current management and the external auditors responsible for the audited financial statements,” he said.
The committee has also recommended that the Auditor-General conduct a forensic audit of NNPCL’s financial records from 2017 to 2023 as part of efforts to strengthen accountability in the management of public funds.
