Senate Warns NNPCL to Refund Unaccounted Trillions of Naira As Ojulari Snubs Panel Hearing
- The Senate committee on Public Accounts has warned the NNPCL to return the missing N210 trillion to the federation account
- The missing funds, according to a report by the Auditor-General, were uncovered after a review of NNPCL’s operations from 2017 to 2023
- The Senate committee threatened to subpoena past managers of the national oil company if the current management cannot give an account
Oluwatobi Odeyinka is a business editor at Legit.ng covering energy, money market, tech and macroeconomic trends in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Senate has ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to refund unaccounted funds estimated at around N210 trillion.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, gave the order after the NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, failed to honour the committee’s invitation to a hearing on the matter.
Source: Getty Images
Legit.ng reported that the Auditor-General of the Federation reviewed NNPCL’s operations from 2017 to 2023, and found unaccounted transactions of ₦103 trillion (accrued expenses) and ₦107 trillion (receivables) in the company's audited financial statements.
NNPCL responded to 19 audit queries issued after the audit, but the Senate rejected the explanations, inviting the NNPCL boss to give clarifications.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Wadada, expressed his displeasure over Ojulari’s unexplained absence from the panel, adding that the earlier clarification given by the NNPCL was contradictory.
Ojulari, who was appointed by President Bola Tinubu in April 2025, did not give any reason for being absent at the committee’s hearing, as reported by Channels News.
Wadada said the NNPCL claimed to have paid ₦103 trillion in Cash Calls to Joint Venture (JV) partners in 2023 alone, even though it generated only ₦24 trillion in crude revenue between 2017 and 2022.
He argued that not only is such payment unjustifiable, but the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari had abolished payments of cash calls by the national oil company.
He declared:
“As far as this committee is concerned, that figure is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The ₦103 trillion must be returned to the Treasury."
He said the current management of the NNPCL must return the unaccounted money to the federation account.
Source: Getty Images
He urged Ojulari to admit that the NNPCL under his watch could not account for the funds, so that the committee could invite members of the past management.
Wadada added:
“The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPCL and NAPIMS.”
Senate demands answers from NNPCL over missing N102 billion
Legit.ng reported that the Senate queried the national oil company earlier this year over alleged missing N102 billion crude oil sales.
The missing funds were reportedly exposed by the Auditor General of Nigeria in 2016, in a report noting that the missing funds were supposed to be for crude oil deliveries to the Warri and Kaduna refineries.
Although the Senate opened a probe into the matter in April 2023 when Mele Kyari was the GCEO, nothing has been heard of it since then.
Source: Legit.ng
