NNPC: Ex-NAPIMS Boss Dismisses ₦210tn Missing Funds Claim
Former NAPIMS chief Bala Wunti says NNPC’s audited accounts show no evidence that ₦210 trillion disappeared from company records.
Former NAPIMS boss Bala Wunti says there is no evidence that ₦210tn missing funds exist in the NNPC 2023 audited financial statements. He made the clarification while appearing before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, led by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, during its review of the company’s audited accounts.
According to Wunti, the ₦210tn missing funds claim resulted from a misunderstanding of standard accounting entries. He explained that the figure came from combining ₦107 trillion recorded as receivables with about ₦103 trillion listed as accrued expenses. He stressed that receivables represent money owed to the company, while accrued expenses are liabilities the company must pay.
“Receivables are money other people owe you, while accrued expenses are money you owe other people,” he said. “Accounting standards require that these items be reported separately. They cannot simply be added together and described as missing money.”
Wunti said the ₦210tn missing funds allegation has no basis because the audited financial statements contain no evidence of missing money. He also noted that NNPC manages commercial operations while overseeing government petroleum assets, making its financial reporting more complex than that of a typical company.
The former NAPIMS chief added that no fraud or missing funds were reported during his time in office. He also rejected claims that ₦5.8 billion was spent to incorporate NNPC after the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) took effect. Instead, he said the actual statutory payments to government agencies totalled about ₦2.45 billion.
Committee chairman Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo also said the Senate had not found evidence that money was missing from NNPC accounts. He explained that the ongoing review aims to improve transparency and gain a clearer understanding of the company’s audited financial statements before deciding whether further clarification is needed.
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