Senate Slams NNPCL Over N210tn Missing Funds, Rejects Excuses for Absence
Abuja, Nigeria, A fresh storm has erupted over alleged grand-scale financial mismanagement at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), as the state oil giant failed to honor a Senate summons probing N210 trillion in missing funds from its audited statements spanning 2017 to 2023.
The Chief Financial Officer of NNPCL, Dapo Segun, in a letter to the Senate Public Accounts Committee dated June 25, cited a “managerial retreat” as the reason for the company’s absence at Thursday’s hearing. Segun requested a two-month extension to collate documents, an appeal the committee flatly rejected as an unacceptable attempt to dodge accountability.
“For an institution like NNPCL to ask for two months to respond to questions from its own audited records is unacceptable,” said Senator Aliyu Wadada, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.
Lawmakers erupted in anger after NNPCL executives and external auditors failed to appear before the Senate, despite formal summons. Wadada’s committee has now issued a 10-day ultimatum, threatening constitutional sanctions if top NNPCL officials do not show up by July 10.
The staggering figure of N210 trillion in unaccounted funds was flagged during the committee’s review of NNPCL’s audited statements. The missing sums, described by watchdogs as potentially one of the largest financial discrepancies in Nigerian public sector history, have sparked nationwide outrage.
Segun’s initial response to the committee attributed the massive gap to “calls requested by joint venture partners and settlement to the JVs.” However, the explanation failed to satisfy lawmakers, who insist that only a thorough investigation will unravel what many fear could be monumental fraud.
Anti-corruption groups, including Transparency International Nigeria, have called for a full-scale probe, warning that failure to hold NNPCL accountable could deepen public distrust and perpetuate a culture of impunity in Nigeria’s oil industry a sector long plagued by allegations of corruption and opaque dealings.
“This is a litmus test for the Tinubu administration’s commitment to transparency,” said an Abuja-based policy analyst. “If the Senate allows NNPCL to wriggle out of this, it signals business as usual in the most critical sector of the Nigerian economy.”
The controversy adds to mounting concerns over financial governance at NNPCL, which was controversially transformed from a public corporation to a limited liability company in 2021 purportedly to improve efficiency and transparency. Critics argue the transition has only made the company more insulated from public scrutiny.
With the July 10 deadline fast approaching, Nigerians will be watching closely whether the Senate’s tough rhetoric translates into real accountability or whether the alleged missing trillions will vanish into the shadows of Nigeria’s troubled oil industry.
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Senate Slams NNPCL Over N210tn Missing Funds, Rejects Excuses for Absence