N210tn Allegation Against NNPCL Defies Economic Reality, Accounting Expert Faults Senate Committee

The allegation that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) mismanaged public funds totalling about N210tn is “economically impossible” and misleading, according to an analysis by accounting expert Dr Kingsley Adegbite.

The Senate had last Thursday summoned the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited ( NNPCL), Mele Kyari, the Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajia Isa and Dr Bala Wunti over unaccounted N210tn expended by the company between 2017 and 2023.

The Committee had threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against the summoned past management team of NNPCL if they failed to appear before it on a date to be forwarded to them soon, wondering among others, why a whopping N5bn was allegedly spent by the National Oil Company on a change of Name from NNPC to NNPCL.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed ( Nasarawa West), who read out the resolutions to journalists, explained that the summoned past management team of NNPCL should be led by the incumbent GCEO, Engineer Bayo Ojulari.

Announcing the resolutions one after the other, Senator Wadada said, “NNPCL should refund the sum of N210tn, being the combined sum of N103tn and N107tn, which were not properly accounted for as contained in the audit reports. NNPCL should and must account for the two figures.”

The claim, made by Senator Ahmed Wadada, had dominated headlines and stirred public debate.

But in an analysis made available to THE WHISTLER, Adegbite stated that the figure is far detached from Nigeria’s fiscal realities and misrepresents the operations of the country’s national oil company.

“This is arithmetic that simply does not add up,” Adegbite said in his analysis. “To suggest that NNPCL, a single government-owned company, lost an amount several times larger than Nigeria’s entire annual budget over multiple years is not oversight, it is sensationalism.”

Adegbite’s analysis compares the alleged N210tn discrepancy with Nigeria’s federal budgets. According to him, between 2017 and 2020, total annual expenditure ranged from N7tn to N10tn, noting that in recent years, government spending rarely exceeds N20tn.

“If we take the claim literally, it implies a single company mismanaged funds that exceed the national budget multiple times,” Adegbite stated. “Economically, that is impossible and entirely implausible.”

The expert highlighted that the focus of the allegation, NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services Limited (NUIMS), formerly NAPIMS, is an internal arm managing Nigeria’s upstream joint venture interests, noting that “NUIMS operations are fully supervised through multiple layers of governance, including approvals from NNPCL headquarters, oversight by international joint venture partners, and regulatory supervision.”

He added, “There is no pathway for NUIMS to independently disburse tens or hundreds of trillions of naira outside corporate and international controls.”

Adegbite pointed out that implying otherwise assumes systemic failure across global oil companies, auditors, and regulators, a scenario he described as “implausible.”

The expert stated, “Presenting cumulative adjustments across fiscal years as new unexplained losses misrepresents standard accounting practice and unfairly targets NNPCL.”

He emphasized further that oil and gas accounting is complex, involving multi-year project financing, capital programme carryovers, production cost recoveries, and reconciliation of previous commitments.

“Misinterpreting these normal financial entries as scandalous is misleading,” he added.

On the N5bn reportedly spent on transitioning NNPC to NNPCL, the expert clarified that the cost reflected a full institutional transformation under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which restructured NNPC into a commercially oriented limited liability company.

“The expenditure included legal, operational, corporate, and global brand rollout costs, such as new signage, advertising campaigns, and digital platform upgrades.

“For a company of NNPCL’s scale and international partnerships, these are standard and necessary expenses—not frivolous spending,” he added.

Adegbite stressed that while legislative oversight is essential, it must be based on facts and technical understanding, noting that inflating numbers without context risks turning serious scrutiny into political theatre.

“NNPCL operates under strict governance and financial controls. Claims like the N210tn allegation distort public perception and undermine trust in the company. Oversight requires evidence and competence, not sensational figures designed to make headlines,” he stated.

He also warned that unverified allegations could discourage foreign investment and partnership in Nigeria’s oil sector.

“The industry depends on credibility, governance, and trust,” Adegbite wrote. “Inflated claims of missing funds threaten these pillars and unfairly target professionals and institutions working within internationally recognized frameworks.”

He concluded that the N210tn allegation is “political rhetoric dressed as financial revelation” and urges lawmakers, journalists, and the public to focus on oversight grounded in evidence.

“NNPCL deserves scrutiny, but it must be responsible, fact-based, and constructive. Misleading claims only serve to inflame public sentiment and damage institutional credibility,” he noted.

ENDS