Former NNPCL chief executive Mele Kyari has denied responsibility for any financial loss during his leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, disputing allegations surrounding N210 trillion in entries contained in the company’s financial records.
The disputed amount consists of N103 trillion in accrued expenses and N107 trillion in sundry receivables, figures that have been under scrutiny by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, which wants NNPCL to properly account for the entries, Channels Television reported.
Appearing before the committee on Tuesday, Kyari maintained that the figures had been misunderstood, arguing that they resulted from accounting classifications and discrepancies rather than missing funds.
He also addressed questions surrounding the company’s dealings with the Federal Inland Revenue Service, explaining that the disputed entries relating to registration were accounting issues. He identified another N2.9 billion questioned by the lawmakers as statutory payments.
Kyari further dismissed claims that NNPCL spent N5 billion on its name change, arguing that the change was effected by the National Assembly without any expenditure by the company.
The former executive submitted a report to the lawmakers in support of his explanations and expressed confidence in his record at the company, insisting that he had not deliberately engaged in any wrongdoing.
The committee chairman disclosed that the investigation covered 23 separate issues, with only one or two directly involving Kyari. He said lawmakers would study the documents submitted and could seek additional explanations from other officials and the Auditor-General of the Federation.
Kyari was discharged after the session, but the investigation remains open.
The inquiry dates back to June 2025, when lawmakers began examining discrepancies in NNPCL’s audited financial statements for the 2017–2023 period. Kyari was among the former officials subsequently invited to account for the figures, but his failure to attend an earlier sitting led the committee to order his arrest in June 2026.
