The immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, on Tuesday refuted allegations of an unaccounted N210 trillion in the balance sheet of the national oil company, as contained in the 2017 to 2023 audit report.
Kyari, who made the rebuttal before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, declared that no such financial infraction occurred under him as Chief Executive of NNPCL from 2019 to 2025.
He said the alleged unaccounted figures arose from accounting entries which had nothing to do with financial loss.
“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 matter relates to accounting entries, which have nothing to do with any financial loss.
“They are bookkeeping issues, and I believe the appropriate explanations have been provided in my report,” he said.
He also declared that the N5 billion allegedly spent on changing the company’s name from NNPC to NNPCL was untrue, as there was no such expenditure under his watch. He also refuted queries raised in the audit report on the registration and incorporation of NNPC Ltd.
He said, “At the time of incorporation, the company was not owned by the federation in the same manner.
“The federation was therefore responsible for the payment relating to the incorporation of NNPC.
“However, NNPC made the payment on behalf of the Federation and subsequently charged it to the Federation’s revenue, which was reflected in what we referred to as the former NAPIMS account of NNPC.
READ ALSO:
“This was simply an accounting entry, involving approximately N2.99 billion.
“It was a payment made to government institutions responsible for providing the relevant services.
“I have also seen comments suggesting that N5 billion was paid for the naming of the company. That is not correct.”
He added, while addressing the Senator Ibrahim Dankwabo-led committee, that NNPCL under him was transformed from a loss-incurring corporation into a profit-making company.
According to him, before his assumption of office as group managing director of NNPC in 2019, the national oil company recorded a huge loss of $803 billion in the 2018 operational year, before gradually turning to profit-making under his leadership from 2019.
“Mr Chairman, you may be aware from the financial records that the company recorded a loss of about $803billion in 2018.
“I took over in 2019, and we did everything possible to transform the company into a profitable organisation which made it to for the first time in its 44 years of existence, recording sustained profits”
Satisfied with Kyari’s submissions, the committee, through its chairman, said the responses submitted to the queries would be thoroughly studied before a final decision was taken on the audit report.
“We shall interrogate the figures submitted by the former GMD to know whether to Invite him again or not.
“For now, he has responded to the two issues relating to his leadership of NNPC during the period under review,” he said.
