The senate committee on public accounts has summoned Mele Kyari, former group chief executive officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, to account for an alleged ₦210 trillion that went unverified between 2017 and 2023.
Kyari was called alongside former chief financial officer Umar Ajia Isa and Bala Wunti, the former group general manager of National Petroleum Investment Management Services.
The summons, issued on Thursday by committee chairman Senator Aliyu Wadada, follows a review of audit reports detailing discrepancies in the national oil company’s financial records.
The committee warned that failure to appear could lead to warrants of arrest for the former officials.
Speaking after the meeting, Wadada said the former management team is expected to appear alongside the current NNPCL leadership, led by incumbent GCEO Bayo Ojulari, as well as external auditors who worked with the company during the period under review.
The chairman explained that the ₦210 trillion flagged in the audit reports comprises ₦103 trillion and ₦107 trillion that were allegedly not properly accounted for in NNPCL’s records.
The committee noted that last year it had raised 19 questions arising from the audit but found the responses unsatisfactory.
According to the company, the ₦103 trillion represents cumulative spending by joint venture partners through JV cash calls since 2017 — a claim rejected by the committee.
The ₦107 trillion recorded as sundry receivables, it was learned, was owed by banks and other entities, but the committee insisted the figures must be fully explained.
“When the two figures are combined, NNPCL needs to properly account for ₦210 trillion,” the committee said.
Lawmakers also questioned ₦5 billion spent on changing the company’s name from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to the NNPCL, describing the expenditure as unacceptable.
In addition, the committee directed NNPCL to refund all production costs charged against crude oil revenue during the period, emphasizing that the company and its subsidiaries do not directly produce crude oil.
The panel further recommended that the office of the auditor-general for the federation conduct a forensic audit of NNPCL’s financial statements in accordance with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution.
Kyari led the national oil company from 2019 to 2025.
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