A coalition of professionals under the Ajiyya Solidarity Forum has dismissed allegations that about N210tn is missing from the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Addressing journalists on Thursday, the forum’s National Coordinator, Usman Hamza, described the claim as “mathematically impossible” and politically motivated.
The group’s reaction follows a recent statement by the Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Ahmed Wadada, who said the national oil company could not account for about N210tn.
Hamza argued that the figure was misleading and did not reflect Nigeria’s fiscal reality.
“Senator Wadada’s claim of N210tn ‘unaccounted for’ funds is a mathematical impossibility designed to shock the public,” Hamza said.
He pointed out that Nigeria’s entire 2024 national budget stands at about N28.7tn, making the allegation difficult to reconcile with available financial data.
“To suggest that a single entity ‘lost’ nearly eight times the national budget is an insult to the intelligence of Nigerians,” he added.
The forum also criticised threats of arrest warrants against former officials of the NNPCL, including former Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajiya, describing the move as part of what it called a coordinated campaign of political blackmail.
According to the group, the Senate committee may have misinterpreted financial figures by combining accrued expenses and receivables in a way that falsely suggests missing funds.
“We consider that the committee has erroneously ‘netted’ N103tn in accrued expenses, largely joint venture liabilities, with N107tn in receivables owed to NNPCL. Labelling money owed to a company as ‘missing funds’ is a professional travesty,” Hamza said.
During the ongoing review of the financial records of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Senate Public Accounts Committee had raised concerns over alleged discrepancies running into trillions of naira.
However, the forum maintained that the allegations ignore the broader financial and structural reforms carried out by the national oil company in recent years.
Hamza also noted that Ajiya’s tenure coincided with the transition of the national oil firm into a commercial entity under the Petroleum Industry Act, a major reform aimed at improving transparency and corporate governance in the sector.
“Mr Ajiya’s tenure saw the transition of NNPC into a commercially driven entity and the publication of the first audited financial statements in 43 years,” the forum stated.
The group also defended the N5.9bn cost incurred during the transition of the former state corporation into NNPCL, saying the expenditure covered complex legal and structural processes required to convert the organisation into a limited liability company.
The forum warned that politicising the Senate’s oversight role could damage Nigeria’s credibility among international investors.
“Using the Senate’s hallowed chambers to pursue personal vendettas damages Nigeria’s reputation with international investors,” Hamza said.
It further called on the leadership of the Nigerian Senate to initiate an independent ethics investigation into what it described as an alleged demand for bribes linked to the ongoing oversight process.
“We call on the Senate leadership and its Ethics Committee to investigate the alleged bribe demand connected to this oversight exercise,” Hamza said.
He urged lawmakers to end what he described as the harassment of officials who have already submitted several technical responses to the committee.
“Public accountability should be pursued through a sober forensic review of facts, not through sensational claims and phantom numbers,” he added.
