NNPC Missing N210trn: Senate Reopens Investigation, Invites Kyari, Ajia, Others
•••Poises To Issue Arrest Warrant To Any Defiant Past Officer
••Probes N5bn Expended In Changing NNPC To NNPCL
•By Admin
ABUJA — THE Senate has reopened investigation into 210 trillion naira of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) expended between 2017 and 2023.
The fund remains one of the most contentious issues in the oil regulatory company in the period, with the National Assembly describing it as “unaccounted.”
Therefore, the Senate on Thursday summoned the company’s immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Mele Kyari, the Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajia Isa and Dr Bala Wunti.
The Senate through its Committee on Public Accounts also threatened to issue warrant of arrest against the summoned past management team of NNPCL if they fail to appear before it on a date to be forwarded to them soon, wondering among others, why a whopping N5billion was spent by the National Oil Company on change of Name from NNPC to NNPCL .
Resolutions on summoning of the immediate past top management team of the NNPCL by the committee were taken at its meeting held on Thursday.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed (Nasarawa West), who read out the resolutions to journalists, explained that the summoned past management team of NNPCL , should be led by the incumbent GCEO, Engineer Bayo Ojulari .
Announcing the resolutions one after the other , Senator Wadada said : “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.
“The second resolution of the committee is that the NNPCL should reform to treasury all production costs charged against crude oil revenue for the period under review since the NNPC and its subsidiaries, NAPIMS and co. do not directly produce crude oil.
“Three, that Immediate past management of NNPCL and NAPIMS, i.e, Mele Kyari as the then GCEO, Umar Ajia Isa as the then CFO and Bala Wunti as the then GGM, NAPIMS, should and must appear before the committee and to be led by the present management with the entire body of the external auditors that served within the period under review.
“Four, that the Auditor General for the Federation should carry out forensic audit review of the audited financial statements of NNPCL for the period under review in line with section 85 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended)”.
He added that the committee as contained in the audit report, wondered how NNPC spent a whopping sum of N5billion on change of name from NNPC to NNPCL.
“This to us in the committee , is unacceptable and satisfactory explanations must be given,” he said.
According to him, the committee came up with the resolutions due to inability of NNPCL to give satisfactory answers to the 19 questions posed to it from queries raised in the audit report.
“NNPCL, as a result of the questions that we asked, responded that the N103 trillion represented cumulative amounts expended by NNPCL Joint Venture Partners from JV Cash Calls 2017. For that, this response is unacceptable and the figure of N103 trillion is still lingering and hanging on NNPC.
“The Subsidy receivables according to the audited financial statement of NNPCL stood at N107 trillion. As at December 2023 NNPCL recorded N107 trillion as sundry receivables which it claims part of it was owed by some different banks and other entities . When put together, NNPCL need to properly account for N210trillion ” he explained.
The committee however affirmed its legislative support to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu led Federal government , who according to it , is doing everything possible in ensuring transparency , probity and accountability in the management of public fund.
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