Senate summons Kyari, Ajia, others over unaccounted N210tn, threatens arrest

n n

By Henry Umoru

n

ABUJA — The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, alongside former Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajia Isa and former Group General Manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Dr. Bala Wunti, over an alleged N210 trillion not properly accounted for by the company between 2017 and 2023.

n

The committee, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada (Nasarawa West), issued the summons on Thursday following a review of audit queries relating to the financial records of the national oil company.

n

Wadada said the committee would issue a warrant of arrest against the former management team if they fail to appear before it on a date that will be communicated to them.

n

He added that the former officials are expected to appear before the committee alongside the current management of NNPCL led by the Group Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Bayo Ojulari, as well as the external auditors who served the company during the period under review.

n

Reading the committee’s resolutions to journalists, Wadada said the panel had directed the NNPCL to account for the combined sum of N210 trillion — comprising N103 trillion and N107 trillion — identified in audit reports.

n

“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. NNPCL should and must account for the two figures,” he said.

n

The committee also directed the company to remit to the Treasury all production costs charged against crude oil revenue for the period under review, noting that NNPC and its subsidiaries, including NAPIMS, do not directly produce crude oil.

n

Wadada said the committee arrived at the resolutions after the NNPCL failed to provide satisfactory responses to 19 audit queries raised against it.

n

According to him, the company claimed that the N103 trillion represented cumulative expenditures by joint venture partners from JV cash calls between 2017 and 2023, an explanation the committee described as unacceptable.

n

He added that the company also recorded N107 trillion as subsidy receivables and sundry debts in its audited financial statements as of December 2023, which it said were owed by various banks and other entities.

n

“When put together, NNPCL needs to properly account for the N210 trillion,” Wadada said.

n

The committee also questioned the expenditure of N5 billion reportedly used to facilitate the change of the company’s name from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

n

“This, to us in the committee, is unacceptable and satisfactory explanations must be given,” Wadada said.

n

He further directed the Auditor-General for the Federation to conduct a forensic audit of the company’s financial statements for the period under review in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

n

Despite the concerns raised, the committee reaffirmed its support for the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, noting that the government is committed to promoting transparency, accountability and probity in the management of public funds.

n n