The immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Mele Kyari, on Tuesday denied allegations that ₦210 trillion went missing from the company’s accounts.
Kyari said the disputed figures were accounting entries that require reconciliation and not evidence of missing.
The committee said it would examine his submissions before deciding whether to summon him again.
Kyari, who headed NNPC from 2019 to 2025, appeared before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts on Tuesday to respond to audit queries covering 2017 through 2023.
He said the disputed figures, which include ₦103 trillion in accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion in sundry receivables, were bookkeeping issues rather than evidence of lost funds.
“I wish to confirm that nothing was lost,” Kyari said. “It is simply not possible that such an amount could have been lost under my care and leadership.”
Kyari also rejected claims that ₦5 billion was spent changing the company’s name from Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. to NNPC Ltd. after the Petroleum Industry Act took effect.
He said the actual payment was about ₦2.99 billion for incorporation and registration, made on behalf of the Federation and later charged to the Federation’s revenue account.
At the time of incorporation, he said, NNPC wasn’t owned by the Federation in the same way it is now.
He said the company therefore paid government institutions, including the former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), for statutory services, then recovered the cost through the Federation’s revenue account.
“This was simply an accounting entry,” Kyari said.
Kyari defended his stewardship by pointing to the company’s financial performance.
He said NNPC recorded a loss of about $803 billion in 2018, before he became Group Managing Director in 2019, and that subsequent restructuring produced sustained profits for the first time in the company’s 44-year history.
The figure is unusual and warrants verification: $803 billion would exceed Nigeria’s annual economic output by a wide margin, and reporting on the hearing reproduces it without independent confirmation.
Committee Chairman Ibrahim Dankwambo said lawmakers would review Kyari’s explanations and supporting documents before determining whether further questioning was needed.
He said the panel had so far focused on two issues connected with Kyari’s tenure.
Kyari’s appearance followed months of pressure from lawmakers after he failed to honor earlier invitations.
Senator Adams Oshiomhole had urged the committee to compel his attendance, though the Senate later said no committee could issue an arrest warrant without following the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act and obtaining the Senate president’s approval.
The committee’s investigation remains open.
Its review will determine whether Kyari’s accounting explanations resolve the outstanding audit queries, or whether the disputed entries require further scrutiny.
