The senator chairing the Senate Committee reviewing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited's (NNPC Ltd.) 2023 audited financial statements has firmly rejected public reports describing N210 trillion as funds "missing" from the company's accounts. Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo made the clarification at a press conference on Thursday, July 16, drawing a sharp distinction between the committee's official position and how the figure has been characterized in wider public discourse.
Senator Dankwambo: 'We Never Said It's Missing'
"We never said it's missing. Unaccountable. Unexplained," Dankwambo told journalists, insisting the committee had found no evidence that any money had disappeared from NNPC Ltd.'s books. He emphasized that the term "unexplained" accurately reflects the committee's findings, not "missing."
How the N210 Trillion Figure Was Arrived At
Dankwambo explained that the contentious sum is a combination of two separate figures from NNPC Ltd.'s financial records: a debit entry of approximately N103 trillion and a credit entry of approximately N107 trillion. "When we merge the N103 trillion and N107 trillion, that is why we are saying N210 trillion. One is debit, one is credit. But when the two cannot be explained, we say a total of this amount cannot be explained," he said.
Bala Wunti Debunks N210 Trillion Claim
Former Group General Manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Alhaji Bala Wunti, appeared before the committee at its invitation. He told lawmakers he had reviewed the audited accounts on a page-by-page basis and found no reference to any missing N210 trillion. Wunti, who headed NAPIMS from March 2020 and later served as Chief Offshore Investment Officer of NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) until December 2024, clarified that the N107 trillion represented sundry receivables owed to NNPC Ltd., while the N103 trillion represented accrued expenses the company owed to others.
"Receivables are money other people owe you, while accrued expenses are money you owe other people. Accounting standards require that these items be reported separately. They cannot simply be added together and described as missing money," Wunti told the committee under oath. He attributed the confusion to the inherent complexity of NNPC Ltd.'s financial reporting, noting that the company simultaneously operates commercially, manages petroleum assets on behalf of the Federation, and fulfills broader energy security obligations.
N5.8 Billion Incorporation Claim Also Disputed
Wunti also addressed separate reports that N5.8 billion was spent incorporating NNPC Ltd. following the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). He said the actual statutory payments made to the Corporate Affairs Commission and the Federal Inland Revenue Service for filing fees and stamp duties amounted to roughly N2.45 billion. "The only money paid was about N2.45 billion and it went directly to government institutions. No third party received any payment," he explained. The inflated figure in circulation arose from the same transaction being recorded separately across different books within the organization.
Recommendations and Next Steps
Wunti recommended closer collaboration between NNPC Ltd., the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, and the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation to avoid similar controversies in the future. Dankwambo said committee members would study Wunti's written report alongside the 2023 audited accounts before deciding whether additional clarification was needed.
