Cracks in ₦210tn allegation as Wadada falters during Channels TV interview

Fresh doubts have emerged over the controversial claim that about ₦210 trillion is missing from the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) after Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada, struggled to defend the allegation during a live appearance on Sunday Politics, a Channels Television programme hosted by Seun Okinbaloye.

During the interview, the lawmaker maintained that the Senate committee relied on figures extracted from the national oil company’s audited financial statements covering the period between 2017 and 2023.

However, the presenter repeatedly pressed the senator on the credibility of the figure and whether it was consistent with Nigeria’s fiscal realities.

At one point, Okinbaloye questioned how a discrepancy of ₦210 trillion could exist when Nigeria’s entire federal budgets within the same period were only a fraction of that amount. He also asked whether the figure might reflect cumulative accounting entries rather than actual missing funds.

Wadada struggled to provide a direct explanation, repeatedly stating that the numbers were derived from the company’s financial statements and that the committee was merely seeking clarification from the national oil company.

In another exchange, the Channels Television anchor pressed the senator on whether the committee had established that the funds were truly “missing” or whether the figures could represent accounting classifications such as receivables, liabilities or other multi-year financial entries.

Okinbaloye also raised concerns that presenting such figures publicly without a full forensic breakdown could create the impression that trillions of naira had been diverted.

The senator responded cautiously, saying the committee was still examining the records and had invited NNPCL officials to explain the entries contained in the audited accounts.

Despite the defence, analysts say the explanation leaves major questions unanswered about the scale and plausibility of the claim.

Oil and gas industry professional Dr. Kenneth Imeobi described the allegation as economically unrealistic, arguing that the figure collapses under basic scrutiny of Nigeria’s fiscal structure and oil sector revenue flows.

According to him, the scale of the alleged discrepancy far exceeds the country’s fiscal capacity during the period under review.

“Between 2017 and 2020, Nigeria’s entire federal budget ranged between roughly ₦7 trillion and ₦10 trillion annually, only rising significantly in recent years,” he said.

“To suggest that a single government company misplaced ₦210 trillion implies financial flows that are several multiples of Nigeria’s total national budget across many years.”

Imeobi added that such a scenario would require the national oil company to generate and lose funds exceeding the fiscal capacity of the Nigerian state itself.

He also dismissed suggestions that NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) could independently disburse funds on such a scale.

“These operations are governed by joint venture partner approvals, corporate governance processes, annual work programme authorisations and regulatory oversight. There is simply no operational pathway through which funds on the scale being alleged could be disbursed outside those controls,” he said.

Chartered accountant and financial analyst Ezikiel Akande said the controversy appears to stem from a misunderstanding of how financial reporting works in the oil and gas sector.

According to him, financial statements in the industry often contain large cumulative entries reflecting capital expenditure programmes, joint venture cash calls, legacy liabilities and reconciliation of long-term commitments.

“When such figures are aggregated across several fiscal cycles, they can appear enormous if not properly interpreted,” he said.

Akande warned that presenting aggregated accounting figures as unexplained or missing funds without detailed forensic analysis risks creating a misleading narrative.

“Taking cumulative financial entries and presenting them as newly discovered missing funds is not sound financial analysis. It simply reflects a misreading of complex financial statements,” he said.

Analysts say the controversy highlights the risks of drawing sweeping conclusions from complex financial records without a thorough technical review, warning that exaggerated figures circulating in the public space could distort public perception and undermine investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil sector.