Kyari, Ajia, Wunti Engage Senate as Probe Deepens into NNPCL Audit Queries

After a series of failed appearances before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts to explain the yet-to-be-accounted N210 trillion in the audit reports of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) from 2017 to 2023, the company’s immediate past management reached out to the committee on Wednesday.

The committee, led by Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed (Nasarawa West), however, warned that it would issue a warrant of arrest against the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Engineer Bayo Ojulari, if he fails to appear before it on May 13, 2026, which has been fixed for another investigative session involving the affected officials.
At Wednesday’s session, the immediate past Chief Finance Officer of NNPCL, Umar Ajia, was physically present and submitted copies of the audit reports containing queries on the unaccounted N210 trillion after taking an oath.
Although the immediate past GCEO of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, and former Chief Upstream Investment Officer, Bala Wunti, were not physically present, they contacted the committee by phone to indicate their readiness to appear.
According to the committee chairman, Kyari called him ahead of the session, while Wunti contacted Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central), assuring that he would be present at the next sitting of the committee.
Earlier, at the start of the session, the committee chairman expressed displeasure over a letter sent by the current NNPCL GCEO, Bayo Ojulari, to explain his absence.
He specifically addressed the Chief Relations Officer, Morenike Adewumi, who signed the letter dated April 29, 2026—the same day as the session—warning that if Ojulari fails to appear before the committee by 3:00 pm on May 13, a warrant of arrest would be issued against him.
“Ojulari must appear before this committee at the next session, failure of which will lead to his being brought before us by force,” he said.
Also voicing his dissatisfaction over Ojulari’s repeated absence, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) described the action as disrespectful, criticizing the submission of a letter signed by a subordinate as justification.
“What cannot be explained must be deemed to have been stolen. It is totally disrespectful for the NNPCL GCEO to send a letter signed by his subordinate to this committee to explain his wilful absence.
“He needs to be put where he belongs because if there is no Nigeria, there can be no NNPCL, let alone its GCEO,” he said.
The committee subsequently directed the Chief Relations Officer, Morenike Adewumi, and the Financial Controller, Tajudeen Kareem, to relay the committee’s directive to Ojulari, emphasizing the need for his appearance on May 13 without fail.
They were also instructed to provide copies of the NNPCL audit reports to Kyari and Wunti ahead of the next session.