NNPC in Hot Water? You Don’t Say. So, the Senate Public Accounts Committee is breathing down NNPC’s neck. Again. This time it’s about a missing… wait for it… ₦210 trillion. That’s not a typo.

Apparently, the Auditor-General flagged some seriously dodgy stuff in NNPC’s financial reports from 2017 to 2023. And Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed is not playing. NNPC sent some written explanations, but didn’t bother to actually show up to the committee hearing. Like, seriously? The date was even their choice. That’s a bad look. I’ve seen this happen before, and it rarely ends well.

The committee chairman, understandably, was pissed. Said he wouldn’t accept any more “representation” from NNPC. Ouch. Here’s the kicker: NNPC is claiming ₦103 trillion in accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion in receivables. That’s the ₦210 trillion they can’t quite explain.

And it gets weirder. They supposedly paid ₦103 trillion in cash calls to joint venture partners in a single year (2023), when they only made ₦24 trillion in crude revenue over five years (2017-2022). Where’d they get the extra cash? “Unjustifiable and unacceptable,” the senator said. I have to agree.

Plus, some of the receivables are supposedly held in defunct banks. But they can’t name the banks? Suspicious, to say the least. To be honest, sometimes I think these guys just make it up as they go along.

The senator’s threatening to subpoena former NNPC officials, too. And he’s laying down the law: next time, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) has to appear in person. No more excuses about being “out of the country.”

It all sounds pretty explosive. I guess we’ll see what happens when (and if) the GCEO finally deigns to show up.

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