THE Senate Committee on Public Accounts has issued a 10-working-day ultimatum to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to respond to queries over an alleged N210 trillion discrepancy flagged in the corporation’s audited financial statements.
The disputed figures, comprising ₦103 trillion in “accrued expenses” and another ₦107 trillion listed as “receivables” were uncovered during the committee’s review of NNPCL’s financial records from 2017 to 2023.
At a resumed hearing on Thursday, the committee, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, rejected a written request from the NNPCL seeking a two-month extension to compile responses and documents.
The company attributed the delay to the absence of its top executives, who it said were currently outside the country.
Reacting angrily to the request, Senator Wadada described it as “nonsense.”
“This committee is not expecting any documents from the NNPCL. We were expecting answers to the 11 questions we asked them,” he said.
“Why should a corporate body like the NNPCL request for two months to respond to queries that emanated from their own internal audit? They are given 10 working days, which will be the 10th of July, to provide answers. If by that date they do not respond accordingly, all the powers of the Senate will be invoked to compel appearance.”
Wadada added that the NNPCL’s failure to comply would prompt the full force of the Senate’s constitutional powers to be applied.
Following consultations among committee members including Senators Onyekachi Nwoebonyi, Abdul Ningi, Victor Umeh, and Tony Nwoye, it was resolved that Bayo Ojulari Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, must personally appear before the committee at the next session scheduled for July 10.
At the previous sitting, the committee had raised questions about inconsistencies in NNPCL’s accounts, including a notable case where a subsidiary,National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), reported N9 trillion in profit between 2017 and 2021, while the parent company recorded a loss of N16 billion in the same period.
Explaining the panel’s findings, Senator Wadada said,“The explanation of what led to the NNPC’s audited financial statement from 2017 to 2023, which of course, having looked at that document, we came up with questions.
“But the specific ones today, the most important, were the ones I asked before we eventually decided to give them all the 11 questions and then the ultimatum of one week for them to respond to.
“In the audited financial statement, they said accrued expenses was and still is, since that is what is contained in the statement, N103 trillion.
“And what make up accrued expenses are, one, retention fees, legal fees and auditors fees. Retention is known, of course it is known to be 5% of total contract sum. And no reference, no mention was made to the contracts that led to this retention.”
He added, “And the retention figure is 600 and something billion. And then accrued the legal fees, no details of legal engagements that led to the fee go attached to the legal fees.”
Speaking further, he added, “And the auditors fees, we have all seen what you’ve seen, you’ve heard and listened to the audited financial statement that was produced by the auditors of NNPC. The next thing of concern is the receivables. The receivables is N103 trillion.
“Ironically, completely independent of what is contained in the audited financial statement that have got to do with these receivables, just this afternoon, before the commencement of the exercise, NNPC brought a new document, a document to the committee that is completely independent of what is contained in the audited financial statement and with items that contradict the items contained in the audited financial statement.
“This we found very ridiculous, very unacceptable by the committee.
“You have listened to all that transpired and the questions are now handed over to them. It is important for the public to know each of these questions emanated as a result of what we discovered from the audited financial statement of NNPC from 2017 to 2023.”
He emphasized the gravity of the situation, noting: “Now, on these just two items, accrued expenses and then receivables, we are talking over N210tn.”
On the broader implications, Wadada said, “And in this day and age, I mean, permit me to say, in Nigeria of today, that President Bola Tinubu as headmaster of the project called Nigeria, is committed to changing the narratives in the system.
“Changing these narratives, which is enveloped by the Renewed Hope Agenda, cannot be achieved without the needed and required funding.
“So, it is a government that needs all the support for funds to be made available to the government.
“And under such a quest, these figures are mind-boggling, they are scary, they are, of course, worrisome.”
Wada further stated, “For us, as representatives of the people, we will do the best we can. I know for a fact that this will not just go down the drain.”
He concluded, “Well, how can it be erroneous? The figures emanated from the audited financial statement of NNPC. And you’ve heard the contradictions. They said reconciliation had not been done.
“So if reconciliation was not done, why did they sign off to the audited financial statement? And this audited financial statement is already in the public domain. And NNPC is planning to go to the market for an IPO.”
Despite NNPCL’s position disputing the committee’s conclusions, the lawmakers maintained that their findings were based solely on the audited records provided by the corporation itself.