The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned a former Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, to explain an alleged ₦210 trillion flagged in audit reports covering the period between 2017 and 2023.

Kyari was summoned alongside a former Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajia Isa, and a former Group General Manager of National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Bala Wunti.

Chairman of the committee, Aliyu Wadada, issued the summons on Thursday after lawmakers reviewed audit reports concerning the national oil company. He warned that the committee could issue arrest warrants if the former officials fail to appear when invited.

According to Wadada, the former management team is expected to appear before the panel alongside the current leadership of NNPCL led by Group CEO Bayo Ojulari, as well as the company’s external auditors during the period under review.

The committee said NNPCL must account for ₦210 trillion flagged in its financial records, made up of ₦103 trillion and ₦107 trillion that lawmakers said were not properly explained in the company’s audited statements.

Wadada noted that the committee had earlier asked the company 19 questions arising from the audit findings but was not satisfied with the responses provided. NNPCL had reportedly explained that the ₦103 trillion represented cumulative spending by joint venture partners through JV cash calls since 2017, an explanation the committee rejected.

Lawmakers also questioned the ₦107 trillion recorded as “sundry receivables” in the company’s audited financial statements as of December 2023, which NNPCL said was owed by several banks and other entities.

“When the two figures are combined, NNPCL needs to properly account for ₦210 trillion,” the committee said.

The panel further raised concerns over ₦5 billion reportedly spent to change the company’s name from the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to NNPCL, describing the expenditure as unacceptable without proper explanation.

In another resolution, the committee directed the company to refund to the treasury all production costs charged against crude oil revenue during the period, arguing that the corporation and its subsidiaries do not directly produce crude oil.

The lawmakers also recommended that the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation conduct a forensic audit of NNPCL’s financial statements for the period in line with Section 85 of the 1999 Constitution.

Kyari served as head of the national oil company from 2019 until 2025.