The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has been given a three-week deadline by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts to address concerns raised regarding N210 trillion in unaccounted funds across audit reports from 2017 to 2023. This comes after the company’s Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Engr. Bayo Ojulari, appeared before the committee on Tuesday, 29th July 2025, and expressed his apologies for failing to attend previous invitations.
The committee, led by Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu of Nasarawa West, stated that the NNPCL must provide a comprehensive response to the 19 queries raised in the audit reports, which include both N103 trillion in liabilities and N107 trillion in assets that remain unaccounted for.
“I am just over 100 days in office as the GCEO of NNPCL. I still need time to properly dig into the details of the issues,” Ojulari said in his defence, requesting an extension of four weeks to address the queries. However, the committee granted him three weeks to provide written responses.
Senator Wadada emphasized that the committee was not insinuating any theft or misappropriation of funds, but merely fulfilling its constitutional mandate to investigate the discrepancies outlined in the audit reports.
“The N210 trillion that has been questioned is divided into two components—N103 trillion in liabilities and N107 trillion in assets. These must be explained,” Wadada added.
The committee also made it clear that Ojulari and other management staff of NNPCL would be invited for a physical appearance and defence if adequate responses were not provided within the three-week period.
Key Details:
- NNPCL Deadline: Three weeks to respond to audit queries.
- GCEO’s Defence: Ojulari apologised for missing earlier invitations and requested more time for reconciliation.
- Audit Concerns: N103 trillion in liabilities and N107 trillion in unaccounted assets.
- Senate’s Mandate: Investigation of discrepancies, not allegations of theft.
