Senate rejects NNPCL’s defence, orders refund of ₦210trn unremitted funds

Senate rejects NNPCL’s defence, orders refund of ₦210trn unremitted funds

The Senate has rejected the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)’s explanations regarding the alleged ₦210 trillion unremitted to the Federation Account, insisting that the company must refund the amount.

The resolution followed months of investigation by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, after the NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, failed to appear before the committee during its resumed hearing at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The session was scheduled to allow the NNPCL clarify issues arising from 19 questions earlier raised by the committee concerning the alleged missing funds.

According to the committee’s review of NNPCL’s audited financial statements from 2017 to 2023, the firm recorded ₦103 trillion in accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion in receivables, totalling ₦210 trillion — transactions the panel described as unexplained and contradictory.

Senator Wadada said the explanations provided by the company were “unsatisfactory” and failed to align with available evidence.

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“NNPCL claimed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables—amounting to ₦210 trillion. On question eight, NNPCL’s explanation on the ₦107 trillion receivables, equivalent to about $117 billion, contradicts the company’s own records. The committee is duty-bound to reject this,” he stated.

The lawmaker further queried how the NNPCL could have paid ₦103 trillion in cash calls to joint venture (JV) partners in 2023 alone when it reportedly generated only ₦24 trillion in crude oil revenue between 2017 and 2022.

“Cash call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under President Muhammadu Buhari. How can NNPCL claim to have paid ₦103 trillion in one year when it generated only ₦24 trillion in five years? Where did NNPCL get that money?” he asked.

Wadada insisted that the alleged ₦103 trillion must be returned to the national treasury, stressing that the figures presented by the NNPCL were “unjustifiable and unacceptable.”

He also advised the company’s management to acknowledge any challenges in reconciling the records rather than providing inconsistent explanations.

“If the present management of NNPCL is finding it difficult to provide acceptable answers, it is better they say so. The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPCL and NAPIMS,” Wadada warned.

The Senate committee said its investigation would continue until the company’s management appears to provide a satisfactory account of the missing funds.

 

Senate rejects NNPCL’s defence, orders refund of ₦210trn unremitted funds

(Source: Channels Television)