…Observers dismiss audit as mere fresh scripted oversight drama
When the Nigerian Senate announced it was probing N210 trillion in financial discrepancies linked to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the public reaction was not shock, but a weary shrug.
For many citizens, it felt like déjà vu: yet another oil sector investigation in a long line of high-stakes inquiries that generated headlines, only to quietly fade without justice or reform.
This time, though, the stakes feel even higher. And the public, increasingly weary of scripted oversight dramas, is watching closely.
Read also: Missing ₦210tn: Senate gives NNPCL fresh 10-day ultimatum, rejects plea for two months
A trillion-naira question
In June, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Ahmed Wadada (Nasarawa West), flagged suspicious entries in NNPCL’s audited accounts between 2017 and 2023, a N210 trillion worth of discrepancies.
Among the irregularities are N103 trillion in liabilities, including N600 billion in unexplained retention fees, legal, and audit costs; another N107 trillion listed as receivables, vague and unbacked by documentation; and, curiously, a revised report submitted by NNPCL that contradicted earlier filings, instead of clearing doubts.
Yet, when summoned by the committee, no NNPCL officials showed up, neither the top brass nor their external auditors. This snub prompted lawmakers to issue a 10-day ultimatum in June, demanding that NNPCL’s Group CEO appear before them or face constitutional sanctions.
Eventually, last Tuesday, Bayo Ojulari, NNPCL’s new CEO, who has spent just over 100 days in office, made his first appearance before the committee. He came with an apology and a request for more time to review the 19 audit queries. The Senate gave him three weeks.
But many Nigerians weren’t impressed.
“Nothing will come out of it”
For years, the Nigerian Senate has been rife with probes, especially in the oil and gas sector. And time after time, public confidence has been dashed by lack of enforcement or political will.
“Let’s be honest,” said Olawale Ibrahim, a public affairs commentator. “The public no longer believes these probes will lead to justice. We’ve seen this film before, and we know how it ends.”
And the film is indeed familiar.
In 2012, the fuel subsidy scandal unearthed over N1 trillion in fraud, but only a few prosecutions followed. In 2022, a Senate report detailed losses of billions to oil theft, again, no consequences. In each case, probes generated public outrage, then quietly disappeared into what one activist recently described as “Nigeria’s accountability graveyard.”
Read also: The battle for time: Wadada, NNPCL clash over ₦210 trn financial discrepancy
The limits of oversight
Wadada was quick to clarify last week that “no money was missing or stolen”, but that the funds had “not yet been accounted for.” It was a statement that seemed both cautious and telling, a nod to political realities. Because behind the audit queries and missing documents lies a deeper tension: the power dynamics between the legislature and the executive.
The NNPCL’s top leadership were appointed by the president. And with the Senate largely dominated by the president’s party, questions abound about its independence and whether it can truly sanction or challenge appointees loyal to the presidency.
“How do you probe someone whose loyalty lies not with the Senate, but with the Villa?” asked Ibrahim. “This is the core of the problem. Until we fix it, every oversight effort will be hamstrung.”
An oil giant above scrutiny?
The transformation of the NNPC into a commercial limited liability company in 2021 under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was supposed to herald a new era of transparency. But critics say the company has become even harder to scrutinise.
Now, with over N210 trillion hanging in the balance, Nigerians believe it’s time for the Senate to prove it’s not just putting on a show.
Three weeks and a nation waiting
With the Senate granting Ojulari three more weeks to respond, the clock is ticking. But public patience is thin, and cynicism is thick.
For citizens already grappling with fuel hikes, food inflation, and poverty, the idea that trillions of naira are floating in undocumented columns is both infuriating and heartbreaking.
Read also: Nigerians demand full probe as $2.96bn fraud rocks NNPCL
“If N210 trillion is unaccounted for, who’s suffering the consequences? Certainly not the oil executives,” the public commentator added. “It’s we, the people, who pay the price, every single day.”
Beyond hubris, towards action
The NNPCL probe has offered the Senate a rare chance to redeem itself, not with words or ultimatums, but with tangible follow-through: public disclosure of findings, referrals to anti-graft agencies, and pressure on the executive to clean house.
Whether the lawmakers seize that moment or allow it to dissolve into political expediency will define more than just the fate of this probe; it will shape public trust in democratic institutions at large.
This is because when a country loses faith in accountability, it loses faith in governance. And as the shadows of past failed investigations loom large, Nigerians are hoping, this time, for a different ending. Or at least, that this report won’t end up in voicemail.
