N210trn Probe: At Last, Ojulari Appears Before Senators, Requests More Time to Answer Questions

By James Adamu

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts made no progress on Tuesday on the investigation into the audited report of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for the period 2017-2023, as the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Mr Bayo Ojulari, requested more time to supply all the information the senators seek.

Ojulari, who appeared before the committee in Abuja, asked for four weeks to get back to the lawmakers before the committee overruled him and granted him three weeks.

The GCEO had failed to make a physical appearance in three earlier invitations, forcing the committee, which is chaired by Senator Aliyu Wadada, to threaten to issue a warrant for his arrest.

The committee had raised questions on the assets and liabilities captured in the audit report, totalling N210trillion.

The questions bordered on the details of the figures recorded in the report, which the committee said remained vague so far.

The NNPCL boss, who tendered apologies for his absence, however told the senators that he could not provide answers to all the questions because he would need to look at the report through a committee he would set up to dig into the specific issues raised.

“I am just over 100 days in the office as the GCEO of NNPCL. I still need time to do further digging, given the perspectives I have heard now into the issues, this is coming in the midst of a huge national assignment, your explanation now changes my perspective about the issues,.

“I need to understand the issues myself so I can respond appropriately. Will get a team and please get the details properly reconciled so we can work to provide answers to the queries.

“In doing this, I will surely engage the external auditors and other relevant groups”, the GCEO said.

Senators, after consulting one another, gave Ojulari three weeks to supply the details of the information asked of the NNPCL.

On June 18, Wadada had given an elaborate explanation on what led to the current face off.

He narrated, “The explanation of what led to the NNPC’s audited financial statement from 2017 to 2023, which of course, having looked at that document, we came up with questions.

“But the specific ones today, the most important, were the ones I asked before we eventually decided to give them all the 11 questions and then the ultimatum of one week for them to respond to.

“In the audited financial statement, they said accrued expenses was and still is, since that is what is contained in the statement, N103 trillion.
And what make up accrued expenses are, one, retention fees, legal fees and auditors fees. Retention is known, of course it is known to be 5% of total contract sum. And no reference, no mention was made to the contracts that led to this retention.

“And the retention figure is 600 and something billion. And then accrued legal fees, no details of legal engagements that led to the fee attached to the legal fees.”

Speaking further, Wadada said,
“And the auditors fees, we have all seen what you’ve seen, you’ve heard and listened to the audited financial statement that was produced by the auditors of NNPC. The next thing of concern is the receivables. The receivables is N107 trillion.

“Ironically, completely independent of what is contained in the audited financial statement that have got to do with these receivables, just this afternoon, before the commencement of the exercise, NNPC brought a new document, a document to the committee that is completely independent of what is contained in the audited financial statement and with items that contradict the items contained in the audited financial statement.

“This we found very ridiculous, very unacceptable by the committee.
You have listened to all that transpired and the questions are now handed over to them. It is important for the public to know each of these questions emanated as a result of what we discovered from the audited financial statement of NNPC from 2017 to 2023.

“Now, on these just two items, accrued expenses and then receivables, we are talking over N210tn.

He added, “And in this day and age, I mean, permit me to say, in Nigeria of today, that President Bola Tinubu as headmaster of the project called Nigeria, is committed to changing the narratives in the system. Changing these narratives, which is enveloped by the Renewed Hope Agenda, cannot be achieved without the needed and required funding.

“So, it is a government that needs all the support for funds to be made available to the government.
And under such a quest, these figures are mind-boggling, they are scary, they are, of course, worrisome.

“For us, as representatives of the people, we will do the best we can. I know for a fact that this will not just go down the drain.”