Senate Summons Ex-NNPCL Boss Mele Kyari Over Unaccounted N210trn, Threatens Arrest

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, to explain an alleged N210 trillion flagged in audit reports as not properly accounted for between 2017 and 2023.
Kyari was invited alongside a former Chief Financial Officer of the company, Umar Ajia Isa, and the former Group General Manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Bala Wunti.
Chairman of the committee, Aliyu Wadada, issued the summons on Thursday after lawmakers reviewed audit reports concerning the national oil company. He warned that the committee could issue warrants of arrest against the former officials if they fail to appear before it on a date to be communicated.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Wadada said the former management team would appear alongside the current leadership of the NNPCL, led by the incumbent Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, as well as external auditors who handled the company’s books during the period under review.
According to him, the committee resolved that the NNPCL must give a clear account of N210 trillion identified in the audit reports. The figure comprises N103 trillion and N107 trillion which lawmakers say were not satisfactorily explained in the company’s financial records.
Wadada disclosed that the committee had earlier sent 19 queries to the NNPCL based on the audit findings last year but was not convinced by the responses received.
He explained that the company claimed the N103 trillion represented cumulative spending by its joint venture partners through JV cash calls since 2017, an explanation the committee rejected.
Lawmakers also raised concerns about another N107 trillion listed as “sundry receivables” in the company’s audited financial statements as of December 2023, which the NNPCL said was owed by various banks and other entities.
“When the two figures are combined, the NNPCL must properly account for N210 trillion,” Wadada said.
The committee further questioned the expenditure of N5 billion reportedly used to change the company’s name from the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
“This, to us in the committee, is unacceptable. Satisfactory explanations must be given,” the chairman added.
In another resolution, the committee directed the NNPCL to refund to the treasury all production costs charged against crude oil revenue during the period under review, arguing that the company and its subsidiaries do not directly produce crude oil.
Lawmakers also recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a forensic audit of the NNPCL’s financial statements for the period, in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution.
Kyari served as head of the national oil company from 2019 to 2025.