Nigeria’s Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned former Mele Kyari and members of his management team over alleged financial discrepancies totaling ₦210 trillion. The investigation focuses on issues discovered in the audited financial records of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited between 2017 and 2023.

The committee chairman, Ahmed Wadada, said the summons followed what lawmakers described as unsatisfactory responses from the company regarding questions raised about its financial reports. The concerns were first highlighted in reports from the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, which pointed to irregularities in earlier audits.

According to Wadada, the committee submitted 19 questions to NNPCL seeking explanations for the financial inconsistencies. However, the responses received from the company were considered incomplete and failed to clearly address the issues raised by lawmakers.

One of the major concerns involves ₦103 trillion recorded as accrued expenses in the company’s 2022 financial statements. The expenses reportedly covered retention fees, legal costs, and audit charges, but the committee said there were no clear details showing how the funds were allocated.

NNPCL reportedly explained that the figure represented cumulative spending by joint venture partners under a previous funding arrangement. However, the Senate panel rejected the explanation, noting that the joint venture cash call system was abolished in 2016 and should not appear in records from 2017 onward.

Lawmakers also questioned another ₦107 trillion listed as sundry receivables as of December 2023. The company claimed part of the money was owed by defunct banks and other institutions, but the committee said no detailed list of those entities was provided, prompting the decision to summon the former officials for clarification.