Forum rejects allegations of N210tn missing from NNPC accounts.

A coalition of professionals under the Ajiyya Solidarity Forum has rejected claims that about N210tn is missing from the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

Speaking with journalists on Thursday, the forum’s National Coordinator, Usman Hamza, described the allegation as “mathematically impossible” and politically driven.

The group was reacting to a recent statement by the Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Ahmed Wadada, who said the NNPC Limited could not account for approximately N210tn. Hamza argued that the figure was misleading and unrealistic.

“Senator Wadada’s claim of N210tn ‘unaccounted for’ funds is a mathematical impossibility designed to alarm the public,” Hamza said.

He noted that the claim contradicts Nigeria’s fiscal realities, pointing out that the country’s entire 2024 national budget is about N28.7tn.
“To suggest that a single entity ‘lost’ nearly eight times the national budget is an insult to the intelligence of Nigerians,” he added.

The forum also criticised threats of arrest warrants against former NNPCL officials, including former Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajiya, describing the move as part of a coordinated campaign of political intimidation.

According to the group, the Senate committee may have misread financial figures by combining accrued expenses with receivables in a way that falsely suggests missing funds.

“We believe the committee may have mistakenly ‘netted’ N103tn in accrued expenses, largely joint venture liabilities, with N107tn in receivables owed to NNPCL. Describing money owed to a company as ‘missing funds’ is a serious professional error,” Hamza said.

During its ongoing review of NNPCL’s financial records, the Senate Public Accounts Committee had raised concerns about discrepancies running into trillions of naira.

However, the forum maintained that the allegations overlook the broader financial and structural reforms undertaken by the national oil company in recent years.

Hamza also noted that Ajiya’s tenure coincided with the transition of the national oil company into a commercial entity under the Petroleum Industry Act, a reform that ended decades of opaque financial reporting.

He said the period saw the publication of the company’s first audited financial statements in 43 years.

The forum also defended the N5.9bn spent during the transition of NNPC to NNPC Limited, stating that the cost covered complex legal and structural processes required to transform the former state corporation into a limited liability company.

It warned that politicising the Senate’s oversight responsibilities could harm Nigeria’s credibility with international investors.

“Using the Senate’s platform to pursue personal vendettas could damage Nigeria’s reputation among international investors,” Hamza said.

The group further called on the Senate leadership to launch an independent ethics investigation into an alleged demand for bribes linked to the ongoing oversight exercise.

“We urge the Senate leadership and its Ethics Committee to investigate the reported bribe demand connected to this oversight process,” he said.

Hamza also urged lawmakers to halt what he described as the harassment of officials who have already provided several technical responses to the committee.

“Public accountability should be pursued through careful forensic examination of facts, not through sensational allegations and exaggerated figures,” he added.