N210trn probe: Kyari appears before Senate

…says no kobo missing from NNPCL under my watch

Former Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, boldly told senators on Tuesday that no kobo was lost from the accounts of the oil company during his tenure at the Abuja NNPCL Towers.

He informed the lawmakers that all references and claims about N210 trillion ‘missing’ from the accounts of the firm or ‘unaccounted for’ were misinformation arising from what Kyari described as “entry issues” in the course of documenting financial statements, which had since been corrected.

Kyari headed the national oil company from 2019 to 2025. He was first appointed the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the then NNPC on July 7, 2019, serving in that capacity until 2021.

He became the pioneer GCEO from 2021 after the company was renamed NNPCL upon the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by the National Assembly, exiting the role in 2025.

The Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) has been reviewing audited financial statements covering Kyari’s tenure, with the committee noting an “unaccounted N210trn”, broken down into N107trn (receivables) and N103trn (accrued expenses).

The committee, formerly chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, had since 2025 insisted that the money must be fully accounted for because it remained unexplained.

Some top ex-officials who served with Kyari had appeared earlier and denied that any funds were missing.

After a series of back-and-forths between Kyari and the committee, which is now chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, a former Accountant-General of the Federation, the former GCEO finally appeared physically on Tuesday to speak on the matter.

Kyari, who submitted a report to the panel for perusal, claimed that there had been a lot of misunderstanding among the general public regarding the management of the NNPCL.

Speaking on the N210trn, he said it was “just not possible” that the money was missing or lost under his watch.

While referring senators to the report he submitted, he maintained: “Nothing is lost and it’s simply not possible to happen under my watch. This was just entry issues that have all been sorted.

“Also, we didn’t pay any kobo to rename NNPCL; the company was actually renamed by the National Assembly. It was a description issue that was not properly captured by the records.”

Kyari, who revealed that he had been in and out of the hospital on medical grounds, reminded senators of the innovations introduced at the company during his tenure, including publishing its financial records for the first time in 43 years.

The former GCEO also expressed concern that it appeared forgotten that the same NNPCL was posting a loss of N803 billion as of 2018, adding that his management did “everything within the law, leading to sustained investments in the oil and gas sector” and today’s transparency in the company.

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While urging the lawmakers to study his document, Kyari aligned with the earlier submissions of his former management staff that no money was missing from the accounts of the oil firm.

Senator Dankwambo, while responding to Kyari after receiving the report he submitted, assured him that senators would thoroughly examine it and revert to him as soon as possible.

“There are 23 issues we raised, but only one or two concern Kyari. We will circulate all the responses to members to study. If new issues come up that require that Kyari and his former officials should show up, we will invite them again,” Dankwambo declared before adjourning the session.