POLITICAL Economy

NNPC: Kyari Denies Allegations of N210 Trillion Unaccounted Funds

by admin on | 2026-11-11 13:32:59

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By Ahmad Sirajo Makama

The immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, has denied allegations of 210 trillion naira in unaccounted funds in the company's financial records.

Kyari says no money was lost during his tenure, insisting that the discrepancies raised in the audit report were merely accounting and bookkeeping issues.

He stated this on Tuesday while appearing before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, to respond to queries arising from the 2017 to 2023 audit report on the national oil company.

Kyari, who headed the NNPC and later NNPCL from 2019 to 2025, told the committee that the alleged financial discrepancies did not represent missing funds or financial losses.

He said, and I quote:

"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 former NNPCL boss also dismissed allegations that five billion naira was spent on changing the company's name from NNPC to NNPCL.

He explained that the approximately two-point-nine-nine billion naira recorded in connection with the company's incorporation was a payment made on behalf of the Federation to relevant government institutions.

According to him, the transaction was subsequently charged to the Federation's revenue and reflected in the former NAPIMS account of NNPC.

Kyari also told the Senate committee that his administration transformed the national oil company from a loss-making organisation into a profitable entity.

He recalled that NNPC recorded a loss of about 803 billion dollars in 2018, before he assumed office in 2019.

Kyari said his administration introduced measures that repositioned the company and enabled it to record sustained profits for the first time in its 44-year history.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, says the committee will carefully examine the documents and explanations submitted by the former NNPCL boss.

Dankwambo said the committee would scrutinise the figures to determine whether Kyari would be invited again for further clarification.

He noted that, for now, the former GCEO had responded to the two issues relating to his leadership of the national oil company during the period under review.

The committee has yet to announce its final position on the audit queries.