…Says audited accounts were wrongly interpreted
Former Group General Manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Bala Wunti, has dismissed allegations that N210 trillion is missing from the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), telling the Senate that a detailed review of the company’s 2023 audited financial statements revealed no evidence of missing funds.
Appearing before the Senate Committee reviewing NNPC Ltd.’s 2023 audited accounts on Tuesday, Wunti said the widely circulated claim was the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of accounting principles rather than proof of financial misconduct.
Addressing lawmakers, the former NAPIMS boss said his independent examination of the audited statements found no reference to the alleged missing N210 trillion.
“I have gone through this document page by page. I have not found where N210 trillion was mentioned,” Wunti told the committee.
He explained that the disputed amount emerged after two completely different balance-sheet entries were incorrectly combined and presented as missing money.
According to him, about N107 trillion represented sundry receivables—funds owed to NNPC Ltd. by third parties—while another N103 trillion reflected accrued expenses, which are liabilities the company is obligated to pay.
Wunti stressed that under globally accepted accounting standards, the two entries serve entirely different purposes and cannot be merged to suggest that funds had disappeared.
“Receivables are money other people owe you. Accrued expenses are money you owe other people. Accounting standards require these items to be reported separately. They cannot simply be added together and described as missing money,” he said.
Based on his review of the audited financial statements, Wunti declared under oath that there was no factual basis for allegations that N210 trillion had vanished from NNPC Ltd.’s books.
The Senate committee had invited Wunti, who previously supervised upstream investments at NNPC, to conduct an independent assessment of the company’s 2023 audited accounts and present his findings.
Although he noted that his tenure did not cover the entire period under review, Wunti said it substantially overlapped with the years captured in the audit, giving him firsthand knowledge of the accounting framework, financial reporting processes and operational structure of the national oil company.
He also sought to explain what he described as the unique accounting framework of national oil companies, saying NNPC Ltd.’s financial reporting is more complex than that of conventional commercial enterprises.
According to him, unlike private corporations, NNPC Ltd. simultaneously functions as a commercial business, serves as custodian of Nigeria’s oil and gas assets on behalf of the Federation and performs strategic national energy security responsibilities.
These multiple roles, he explained, require separate accounting records and reporting frameworks, making the company’s audited financial statements more intricate than those of ordinary corporate organisations.
Wunti recalled that before the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation combined commercial, regulatory and policy responsibilities within a single organisation.
While the PIA separated many of those responsibilities, he said NNPC Ltd. still maintains distinct accounting records to reflect both its commercial activities and its management of assets belonging to the Federation.
The former NAPIMS chief, who headed the agency from March 2020 before serving as Chief Offshore Investment Officer of NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services until December 2024, maintained that no case of fraud or missing funds was reported during his time in office.
“There was no reported fraud or money missing throughout the period under my stewardship,” he told lawmakers.
Wunti also addressed another issue raised before the committee, disputing reports that N5.8 billion was spent to incorporate NNPC Ltd. after the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act.
He explained 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 approximately N2.45 billion.
According to him, the larger N5.8 billion figure resulted from accounting entries recorded separately across different books because one arm of the organisation paid the statutory charges on behalf of government shareholders, while another reflected the same transaction in its reporting records.
“The only money paid was about N2.45 billion, and it went directly to government institutions. No third party received any payment,” he said.
To prevent similar controversies in future, Wunti urged stronger collaboration among NNPC Ltd., the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation to deepen understanding of the company’s accounting framework and reporting procedures.
He also called for greater appreciation of the constitutional and statutory provisions governing NNPC Ltd., particularly the Petroleum Industry Act, arguing that a proper understanding of the legal framework would lead to more accurate interpretation of the company’s financial statements and reduce public misconceptions.
Following the presentation, Chairman of the Senate Committee, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, said members would examine Wunti’s report alongside the audited financial statements before deciding whether further clarification would be required.
The committee subsequently adjourned proceedings to continue its review of the submissions.
The Senate’s ongoing scrutiny of NNPC Ltd.’s 2023 audited accounts has drawn widespread public attention amid allegations of financial irregularities and conflicting interpretations of figures contained in the company’s audited financial statements.
(The Sun)
