Senate orders arrest of Mele Kyari over alleged N210tr NNPCL financial gaps

By Editor

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has ordered the arrest of former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, over his repeated failure to appear before it to respond to alleged financial discrepancies amounting to N210 trillion.

The directive was issued on Wednesday by the committee chairman, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, following a voice vote by members of the panel.

The committee is investigating audit queries covering the period between 2017 and 2023, during which it says massive financial figures in the NNPCL accounts remain insufficiently explained.

At the session, Senator Adams Oshiomhole urged the committee to invoke its constitutional powers, arguing that repeated absences by the former NNPCL chief undermined the integrity of the probe.

He questioned the justification for Kyari’s reported absence on health grounds in Germany, insisting that such explanations were not sufficient given the scale of the alleged financial issues and Nigeria’s fiscal pressures.

According to him, the committee must act decisively, especially as the audit queries were raised by professional auditors and not by public speculation.

The Vice Chairman of the committee, Senator Onyeka Peter Nwebonyi, also supported the move, stating that there was no further need to delay proceedings and calling for the issuance of an arrest warrant.

Following the deliberations, Chairman Dankwambo ruled that Kyari should be arrested and compelled to appear before the committee immediately.

The probe, which initially involved summons issued in March, also covered other former senior officials of the NNPCL, including former Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajiya Isa and former Group General Manager of NAPIMS, Bala Wunti.

The committee flagged two major financial components during its review of audit reports: N103 trillion allegedly linked to cumulative Joint Venture (JV) cash call spending since 2017, and N107 trillion recorded as “sundry receivables” in the December 2023 audited financial statements, reportedly owed by banks and other entities.

The panel had earlier directed the current NNPCL leadership under Bayo Ojulari to appear before it in July 2025 to respond to the audit queries, warning that failure to comply could also lead to enforcement actions.

With the latest order, the Senate Committee says it is intensifying efforts to compel accountability over the alleged financial discrepancies and ensure full compliance with its ongoing investigation into NNPCL’s audited accounts.