By Anayo Akwitti
The immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has denied allegations of N210 trillion in unaccounted funds in the company’s financial records, insisting that no money was missing under his leadership.
Kyari made the clarification on Tuesday while appearing before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, which is examining queries raised in the audit reports of the national oil company covering 2017 to 2023.
He said the alleged discrepancies arose from accounting entries and bookkeeping issues rather than any financial loss, stressing that such an amount could not have been lost under his watch as GCEO between 2019 and 2025.
“I wish to confirm that nothing was lost. It is simply not possible that such an amount could have been lost under my care and leadership.
“The matter relates to accounting entries, which have nothing to do with any financial loss. They are bookkeeping issues, and I believe the appropriate explanations have been provided in my report,” he said.
Kyari also dismissed allegations that N5 billion was spent on changing the company’s name from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to NNPCL, describing the claim as incorrect.
Addressing questions on the incorporation of NNPC Limited, he explained that the Federation was responsible for the incorporation expenses, although the company initially made the payment on its behalf before charging the amount to the Federation’s revenue.
He said the transaction involved approximately N2.99 billion paid to government institutions responsible for providing the relevant services and was reflected in the company’s former NAPIMS account.
Kyari further defended his tenure, saying he inherited a loss-making national oil company in 2019 and introduced reforms that transformed it into a profitable organisation.
According to him, NNPC recorded a loss of about $803 billion in the 2018 financial year before his assumption of office, but subsequently moved towards sustained profitability.
He told the committee that the company recorded profits for the first time in its 44-year history under his leadership.
Responding to Kyari’s submissions, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, said the committee would examine the documents and explanations provided before reaching a final decision on the audit queries.
Dankwambo said the committee would scrutinise the figures submitted by the former NNPCL chief to determine whether further clarification or another invitation would be necessary.
He added that Kyari had, for now, responded to the two issues relating to his leadership of the national oil company during the period under review.
