The Senate has insisted that the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, and other former top officials of the national oil company must account for alleged discrepancies amounting to about N210tn flagged in the company’s audited financial statements between 2017 and 2023.

Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada (Nasarawa West), said the former management would be invited to appear before the committee at a public hearing to clarify issues raised in the audit reports.

Wadada disclosed this on Sunday while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, stressing that the committee was determined to uncover the facts surrounding the discrepancies.

He said, “We are inviting them to appear before the committee in a public hearing to clear the air in this controversial, ambiguous and unacceptable conduct.

“We shall, immediately after the Eid (festival), write them through the GMD of the NNPCL.”

The Senate probe follows concerns raised in the company’s audited financial statements, which lawmakers say showed that the oil company had yet to fully account for about N210tn.

According to the committee, the amount comprises N103tn allegedly spent by the corporation and its joint venture partners, as well as N107tn recorded as receivables in the company’s books.

The committee had earlier summoned Kyari, former Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajia Isa, and a former Group General Manager of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Bala Wunti, to appear before it.

The panel also warned that it could issue a warrant of arrest against the former officials if they fail to honour the invitation.