Mele Kyari Refutes N210 Trillion Missing Funds Allegation

Mele Kyari, the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), addressed allegations of N210 trillion in unaccounted funds during a Senate Committee on Public Accounts hearing. He refuted claims from the 2017 to 2023 audit report, stating that no financial infractions occurred under his leadership from 2019 to 2025.

Kyari explained that the alleged discrepancies were due to accounting entries rather than actual financial losses. He emphasized that nothing was lost during his tenure, which transformed NNPCL from a loss-incurring entity to a profit-making organization.

He noted that prior to his leadership, NNPCL recorded a significant loss of $803 billion in 2018. Additionally, Kyari dismissed claims of N5 billion spent on changing the company's name from NNPC to NNPCL as untrue.

The Senate committee, led by Chairman Ibrahim Dankwabo, expressed satisfaction with Kyari's responses and indicated that they would review the submitted figures before making a final decision.