You Must Refund N210trn Unaccounted For, Senate Orders NNPCL

The Senate has told the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) that it must return the sum of N210trillion it had not been able to account for.

The upper chamber has been probing the company and came to the resolution on Tuesday through the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.

This came after the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the NNPCL, Mr Bayo Ojulari, failed to turn up at its resumed sitting at the National Assembly.

This left yawing gaps in a session which would have enabled the NNPCL to provide necessary clarifications following a review of its activities from 2017 to 2023.

After weeks of back-and-forth between the committee and the NNPCL, the latter eventually answered the 19 questions.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada, providing an update on the findings of the committee stated:

“NNPC claimed N103 trillion as accrued expenses and N107 trillion as receivables, amounting to N210 trillion.

“On question eight, NNPC’s explanation on the N107 trillion receivables -equivalent to about $117 billion -contradicts available facts and evidence provided by NNPC itself.

“The committee is duty-bound to reject this.”

According to Wadada: “Cash Call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under the  late President Muhammadu Buhari administration. How can NNPC claim to have paid N103 trillion in one year, when it only generated N24 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 N103 trillion must be returned to the treasury. This will be concluded when the NNPCL appears before us.”

“NNPC claimed N107 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 -N103 trillion and N107 trillion, NNPC must account for N210 trillion.”

-to be continued