No N210tn Missing from NNPC Accounts, Bala Wunti Tells Senate

Former Group General Manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Alhaji Bala Wunti, has told the Senate that there is no evidence in the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.)'s 2023 audited financial statements to support claims that ?210 trillion is missing from the company's accounts, while Chairman of the Senate Committee reviewing the accounts, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, clarified that the committee had not established that any funds were missing.

Appearing before the Senate Committee reviewing the NNPC Ltd.'s 2023 audited financial statements, Wunti said he conducted a page-by-page examination of the accounts at the committee's request and found no reference to any missing ?210 trillion.

According to him, the controversial figure resulted from a misinterpretation of accounting entries rather than evidence of missing funds.

He explained that the ?210 trillion figure was arrived at by wrongly combining two separate balance sheet items—about ?107 trillion recorded as sundry receivables, representing funds owed to the company, and approximately ?103 trillion recorded as accrued expenses, representing liabilities owed by the company.

Wunti explained that receivables are funds owed to the company, while accrued expenses are liabilities owed by the company, stressing that accounting standards require both items to be reported separately and that they cannot simply be added together and described as missing money.

Declaring under oath, the former NAPIMS boss maintained that there was no basis for the allegation that ?210 trillion had disappeared from the NNPC's books, insisting that the audited financial statements contained no evidence of missing funds.

Wunti, who headed NAPIMS from March 2020 before serving as Chief Offshore Investment Officer of the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) until December 2024, said although his tenure did not cover the entire period under review, it fell substantially within the timeframe being examined, placing him in a position to explain the accounting issues before the committee.

He further explained that NNPC Ltd.'s financial reporting is inherently more complex than that of conventional commercial enterprises because the company simultaneously operates as a commercial entity, manages petroleum assets on behalf of the Federation and performs strategic responsibilities aimed at safeguarding Nigeria's energy security.

According to him, although the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) separated many of the former NNPC's commercial and regulatory functions, the company still maintains distinct accounting records to reflect its commercial operations and its management of assets held on behalf of the Federation.

Wunti also dismissed reports that ?5.8 billion was spent on incorporating NNPC Ltd. following the implementation of the PIA. He clarified that the actual statutory payments made to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for filing fees and stamp duties amounted to about ?2.45 billion.

He explained that the larger figure being circulated resulted from accounting entries recorded in separate books because one arm of the organisation executed the payment on behalf of government shareholders while another recorded the same transaction for statutory reporting purposes.

According to Wunti, the only amount actually paid was about ?2.45 billion, which went directly to government institutions, adding that no third party received any payment.

To prevent similar controversies, Wunti recommended closer collaboration between NNPC Ltd., the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation to improve understanding of the company's accounting framework. He also called for a broader appreciation of the Constitution, the Petroleum Industry Act and other relevant statutes governing the company's operations.

Responding after Wunti's presentation, Senator Dankwambo clarified that contrary to widespread public reports, the Senate Committee had never concluded that ?210 trillion was missing from the NNPC's accounts.

He said the public had repeatedly interpreted the committee's position as alleging that funds were missing, whereas the committee's concern was that the transactions were initially unaccounted for or unexplained. He explained that the ?210 trillion figure resulted from combining the ?103 trillion and ?107 trillion entries—one a debit and the other a credit—and that until satisfactory explanations were provided, the committee regarded the combined amount as unexplained rather than missing.

Dankwambo stressed that the committee's responsibility was to obtain satisfactory explanations for the accounting entries and not to declare that funds had been stolen or had disappeared. He added that the Senate's oversight role is to ensure that all material figures contained in the audited financial statements are properly reconciled and transparently explained.

He said the committee would study Wunti's written submission alongside the 2023 audited financial statements before determining whether any further clarification would be required.

The Senate's ongoing scrutiny of NNPC Ltd.'s 2023 audited accounts has attracted widespread public attention following allegations of financial irregularities and competing interpretations of figures contained in the company's financial statements. 

While Wunti has maintained that there is no evidence of missing funds, Dankwambo has clarified that the committee's position is that the figures in question were initially regarded as unexplained—not missing—and that the ongoing review is intended to establish a complete accounting reconciliation.

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