The Senate Committee on Public Accounts (CPA) has expressed strong disapproval of NNPC Ltd.’s conduct, after the national oil company failed to appear before the committee on a date it selected to explain significant discrepancies in its audited accounts from 2017 to 2023.
Committee chair Aliyu Wadada asked: “May I know if NNPC is here? Any member of the management present?” He then noted wryly: “It is rather unfortunate that none of the officials of NNPC is here — on a date they themselves chose.”
The company had submitted written responses to 19 audit queries, but its representatives did not show up for the physical hearing.
The ₦210 Trillion Discrepancy
The core of the dispute centres on NNPC’s claim of ₦103 trillion in accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion in receivables over the six-year period — together totalling around ₦210 trillion. The committee deemed both figures “fictitious and financially impossible”. For example:
• How could NNPC claim to have paid ₦103 trillion in cash calls to joint-venture partners in 2023 alone when the company reportedly generated only ₦24 trillion in crude‐oil revenue between 2017 and 2022?
• The ₦107 trillion claimed as receivables included some held in “defunct banks” — but no banks or specific amounts were named, undermining credibility.
Illegal Subsidy Allegations
The committee also flagged what it called illegal subsidy practices by NNPC and its subsidiary National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) between 2017 and 2021 — for example, subsidies claimed on crude oil (NAPIMS) or on refined products (NNPC) contrary to law.
The chairman queried how, under current rules, such arrangements could still be valid: “Cash-call arrangements were abolished in 2016.”
Chairman Wadada said the era of junior officers facing the committee on behalf of the company is over. He insisted the Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, must appear in person at the next session; being abroad will “no longer be accepted as an excuse.”
“If the present management of NNPC is finding it difficult to provide acceptable answers, it is better they say so. The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPC and NAPIMS.”
The committee emphasised it is exercising its constitutional mandate to protect public resources and hold institutions accountable. “We act openly and constitutionally,” the chairman said.
The committee backed the resolution, warning that some people treat NNPC as though it were the country itself. “These are the same funds our president is forced to borrow abroad. We will not tolerate it.”
The committee is to review the written responses already submitted by NNPC and will proceed with hearings despite the absence of physical appearance.
If the current management fails to satisfy the explanations, the panel says it will summon former NNPC and NAPIMS officials.
The committee has indicated the ₦210 trillion must either be properly accounted for or refunded to the federal treasury.
With the scale of the discrepancy equating to tens of billions of dollars, this scrutiny affects Nigeria’s oil sector transparency, public finances and investor confidence. One commentator noted that the figure of ₦210 trillion is larger than Nigeria’s total national budget for several of those years.
