The Senate Committee on Public Accounts, led by Senator Aliyu Wadada, has voiced grave concern over significant inconsistencies uncovered in the audited financial records of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), calling the findings both “mind-boggling” and “deeply troubling.”
At a high-stakes investigative hearing on Wednesday, NNPC’s Chief Financial Officer, Dapo Segun, appeared before the committee to address a host of irregularities. Lawmakers spotlighted glaring gaps in documentation for exorbitant legal and auditing fees, along with serious contradictions in the company’s reported receivables—valued at more than ₦210 trillion—spanning the years 2017 to 2023.
The committee questioned how such staggering figures could lack proper supporting records, raising red flags about the transparency and accountability mechanisms within one of Nigeria’s most critical state-owned enterprises.
The panel said, “Legal fees were accrued without any explanation or documentation regarding the legal services rendered. The auditors’ fees raise similar questions. There are no clear justifications. Everything we’ve seen and heard from the audited financial statements is troubling.”
Senator Wadada further stated that the main concern is with the receivables.
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“Trillions of naira are in question, and the new document they presented this afternoon doesn’t match what’s already in their audited report. It’s completely independent and contradictory,” he said.
The committee underscored that the concerns stem directly from the analysis of NNPC’s audited financial statements spanning 2017 to 2023, not from speculation. The committee has now handed over a list of 11 queries to NNPC’s finance team and given them one week to return with answers.
Senator Aliyu Wadada stressed that the committee would not allow the financial discrepancies within NNPC to be overlooked, emphasizing that such issues strike at the heart of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda, which places a premium on transparency, fiscal discipline, and accountability in public finance management.
In a related development, the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Rivers State Emergency Rule is set to receive Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), the Sole Administrator of Rivers State, who is expected to appear before lawmakers to justify the state’s ambitious ₦1.48 trillion expenditure proposal for the 2025 fiscal year. His appearance is likely to face intense scrutiny as the Senate ramps up oversight of public spending amid growing national concerns over financial prudence.