Bala Wunti, the former Group General Manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), recently informed the Senate Committee on Public Accounts that reports of N210 trillion missing from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited are baseless. Appearing before the committee led by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, Wunti explained that the figure resulted from a fundamental misunderstanding of accounting entries in the 2023 audited financial statements.
Wunti clarified that the inaccurate sum originated from the improper summation of two distinct balance sheet entries: N107 trillion in sundry receivables and N103 trillion in accrued expenses. He emphasized that these represent separate financial categories—funds owed to the firm versus obligations the firm owes to others—and cannot be combined to suggest misappropriated assets. He asserted that the audit provides no evidence of missing funds, noting his experience overseeing joint ventures and production sharing contracts during his tenure.
Addressing additional financial inquiries, Wunti disputed claims that NNPC spent N5.8 billion on incorporation costs following the Petroleum Industry Act implementation. He stated the actual expenditure was N2.45 billion, paid exclusively to government bodies like the Corporate Affairs Commission. The higher figure cited by critics was merely a result of internal accounting entries recording the same transaction across different organizational books.
Senator Dankwambo confirmed that the committee has not uncovered evidence of missing money. He stated that the review is aimed at enhancing transparency and clarifying complex financial reporting structures rather than confirming rumors of theft. The committee will continue its evaluation after studying Wunti’s formal submission.
