The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has come under fire for repeatedly ignoring parliamentary summons, leading to a walkout by a Senate committee deputy chairman and deepening concerns over accountability for massive oil revenue losses. The development highlights a systemic failure in legislative oversight as enshrined in Nigeria's 1999 Constitution.
Senator Stages Walkout Over NNPCL Defiance
Senator Allwell Onyesoh, Deputy Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), staged a walkout during a meeting last week after NNPCL’s top management again failed to appear for hearings on crude oil theft. The committee had repeatedly summoned the company, but officials cited travel as a reason for non-attendance.
“They keep writing letters saying they are travelling to Congo; travelling here and there, just to dodge simple things,” Onyesoh stated. “Was the Group Chief Executive Officer appointed to keep travelling or to work? Is Nigeria’s problem outside the country or here in Nigeria? How is it possible that the Group CEO, his deputy, directors and the entire management are all travelling at the same time?”
The walkout occurred as the Senate committee investigates crude oil theft and reviews the oil sector governance framework. Onyesoh emphasized that NNPCL’s input is crucial for a comprehensive legislative output, but the committee has proceeded without it.
Missing Revenues Exceed $300 Billion
The Senate ad hoc committee on oil theft, chaired by Ned Nwoko, presented an interim report in November 2025 that uncovered staggering revenue losses. The report revealed $22 billion, $81 billion, and $200 billion in missing revenues at various periods, attributing the losses to weak oversight and sabotage. According to a 2014 report by Chatham House, oil theft in Nigeria is “on an industrial scale,” involving politicians, military officers, militants, oil industry personnel, oil traders, and communities.
Attacks on oil export terminals and pipelines remain routine, exacerbating the financial hemorrhage. The NNPCL’s absence from hearings undermines efforts to address these systemic issues.
Auditor-General Flags ₦210 Trillion in Unaccounted Funds
Beyond the ad hoc committee findings, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts has been investigating ₦210 trillion in oil revenue that the Auditor-General of the Federation flagged for the period 2017 to 2023. The NNPCL evaded summons for months before Group CEO Bayo Ojulari appeared and requested time to study issues predating his tenure.
The Auditor-General’s queries include ₦103 trillion in accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion in receivables—amounts exceeding half of Nigeria’s foreign reserves. Senator Aliyu Wadada, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, questioned the figures: “How can NNPC claim to have paid ₦103 trillion in one year, when it only generated ₦24 trillion in revenue over five years?”
Regarding the ₦107 trillion receivables, Wadada noted that the NNPCL claimed part of it is held in defunct banks but failed to specify any bank or amount. “These equivocations do not add up,” he said. The committee has dismissed NNPCL’s explanations as contradictory to earlier evidence.
Legislative Oversight Under Threat
The Public Accounts Committee is the only legislative committee entrenched in the Constitution, underscoring its role in curbing fiscal excesses. Yet, the NNPCL’s defiance sets a dangerous precedent for other ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs). The Senate Committee on Finance has also faced disregard for invitations to account for internally generated revenues between 2023 and 2025, prompting a plea to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“This makes absolute mockery of the country’s fight against corruption,” the article notes, especially as over 139 million Nigerians live below the poverty line and the government continues to borrow abroad. The failure of oversight is exemplified by rogue oil ships like the MT HEROIC IDUN, a Norwegian supertanker that entered Nigerian waters in August 2022 without documentation.
Premium Times holds Senate President Godswill Akpabio responsible for NNPCL’s affronts, citing the Senate’s constitutional powers to compel attendance via warrant. The publication also calls on President Bola Tinubu, as Minister of Petroleum Resources, to break his silence on the matter, as the NNPCL’s disregard for accountability contradicts his Renewed Hope Agenda.
