…threatens to subpoena former GMDs
By Our Correspondent
The Senate Tuesday through its committee on Public Accounts, rejected written explanations forwarded to it by management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on unaccounted N210trillion from 2017 to 2023.
The Committee headed by Senator Aliyu Ahmed Wadada (Nasarawa West) had on the strength of 19 different queries raised against NNPCL by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation in the financial reports of 2017 to 2023, directed NNPCL to account for N210trillion financial infraction as contained in the reports.
Though the management of NNPCL, in line with the directive, responded to the 19 queries through written explanations, but failed to physically appear before the Committee on Tuesday (November 11, 2025) as earlier suggested and agreed .
Irked by the development, the committee through its Chairman at the session, slammed the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPCL, Engineer Bayo Ojulari for offensive evasiveness which according to him, will not make the committed recognise any representation from NNPCL again.
He said : “Today, November 11, 2025, was a date chosen by NNPC. it is rather unfortunate that none of the officials of NNPC is here on a date they themselves chose.”
“The public has been waiting for this. It is important that we keep Nigerians informed. Even though we cannot conclude today in the absence of NNPC officials, the committee must share our findings based on the responses already submitted by NNPC.”
He revealed that NNPC’s financial submissions raised serious red flags — particularly claims of ₦103 trillion in accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion in receivables, totaling ₦210 trillion between 2017 and 2023.
See also Dangote Refinery makes case for 100% Nigerian crude …as Senate probes alleged sabotage in petroleum industry By Our Correspondent The Dangote Refinery has made passionate appeal to the Senate, NNPCL, NUPRC, NDMPRA and other stakeholders in the industry to help supply the refinery its crude oil need 100 per cent from Nigeria. Group Strategy Officer, Dangote Refinery, Aliyu Suleiman made the appeal at the Senate Ad-hoc Committee probing alleged economic sabotage in petroleum industry at the Senate Complex, Abuja on Wednesday. He said right now, the refinery bought about 50 million barrels of crude out of which about 60% comes from NNPC. Mr. Suleiman who expressed gratitude to NNPC for their support, added that, essentially, all they are asking is for them to get their crude requirement from Nigeria 100%. “Let's be very clear, we are happy to pay fair prices. We hope that we'll work with the regulator and we'll get their support so that the refinery can get 100% of its crude from Nigeria and buy the crude from companies that produce it in Nigeria not from international middlemen. “We count on support of the committee, the regulators and other stakeholders to ensure that the refinery succeeds, because if it does, aside from the other obvious benefits, like forex generation, job creation and the rest, most importantly, there is the psychological benefit of making, giving Nigerians, Africa in general, the confidence that we can succeed. Giving a progress update on the refinery, Mr. Suleiman said since the refinery started full trial production in January and then full time production started in March, we processed about 50 million barrels of crude. “We have produced about five million tons of petroleum products. And these petroleum products have been sold to various parts of the country and Jet oil has been sold in Europe since May. He said other products have been sent to places as far as Asia, US, Brazil, and so on. So the refinery has been making a lot of progress. He emphasized the importance of deliberately protecting local industries for the over all economic development of the country. According to him, “the US, for example, has done that, to protect their own industries against attack by China that subsidize their own industries and then sends them to the US. So that's the first question. We want to urge the committee to consider if we deserve protection against them”. He posed three basic questions that revolved around protection of local industries for the consideration of the committee and Nigerians at large. The questions are: “Do local refineries deserve protection from NUPRC? “Should Nigeria protect its infant industries in order to improve investment? “Should local refineries have preferential access to Nigerian crude? He said Dangote found itself competing against Russian products that were produced with oil that is valued at $60. “We all know that because of the cap that has been put Russian oil, the value of Russian oil today in the market is $60. And that's what Russia is using to produce their products and those products are being sent in large quantities into Africa to compete with products that are produced in refineries that buy crude at $90. “We don't think this will be a fair competitive environment and I think that when you have such unfair competition, it is normal to put protective measures. “I think even in the animal world, the moment a new baby is born, they don't just go and leave it out in the wild. “What we want is to sell more of our products in Nigeria, because we believe we can do that, we can compete. And even though there are concerns that have been expressed around monopoly, that is a problem that has been identified. The right thing to do is to say, how do we address this problem? If monopoly is a risk, how do we address this risk while at the same time ensuring that we protect our domestic industries? The good thing is that in the PIA, there are provisions around that, you can monitor and take action if you feel there's monopoly.
“NNPC claimed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables — amounting to ₦210 trillion. On question eight, NNPC’s explanation on the ₦107 trillion receivables — equivalent to about $117 billion — contradicts available facts and evidence provided by NNPC itself. The committee is duty-bound to reject this”, he said
He further questioned how NNPC could pay ₦103 trillion in cash calls to joint venture partners in 2023 alone, despite generating only ₦24 trillion in crude revenue between 2017 and 2022.
> “Cash call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under the Buhari administration. How can NNPC claim to have paid ₦103 trillion in one year, when it only generated ₦24 trillion in revenue over five years? Where did NNPC get that money?
“As far as this committee is concerned, that figure is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The ₦103 trillion must be returned to the Treasury. This will be concluded when NNPC appears before us.”
He added that the committee also outrightly rejected the ₦107 Trillion receivables which stand for assets in accounting.
“NNPC claimed of ₦107 trillion as receivables — part of which they said was held in defunct banks. However, no bank or amount was named.
“This lack of transparency is unacceptable. By the time you combine both figures — ₦103 trillion and ₦107 trillion — NNPC must account for ₦210 trillion.
“If the present management of NNPC is finding it difficult to provide acceptable answers, it is better they say so. The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPC and NAPIMS.
“NAPIMS, by law, is a department under NNPCL and cannot maintain an independent account. Yet, NAPIMS has been operating as if it were a separate entity”, he stressed .
He warned that any future absence of NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) before the committee would no longer be tolerated.
> “At any point this committee invites NNPC, the Chief Executive must appear in person. Being out of the country will no longer be accepted as an excuse. The next invitation will require the GCEO’s physical presence.”
In their separate remarks , all members of the committee present at the session , supported the decisions announced by the Chairman .
