By Henry Umoru
ABUJA – FORMER Group General Manager (GGM) of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Bala Wunti, has disclosed that there was no evidence in the 2023 audited financial statements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to support claims that N210 trillion went missing from the company’s accounts.
Wunti, who made this disclosure when he appeared before the Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe North)-led Senate Committee on Public Accounts during the review of NNPC’s 2023 audited financial statements, said he had reviewed the accounts at the committee’s request and found no reference to any missing N210 trillion.
NAPIMS, now known as NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIS), is a former unit of NNPC Limited tasked with managing the federal government’s investments in the upstream oil and gas sector. The firm oversees joint ventures (JVs) and production sharing contracts (PSCs) with international oil companies.
Wunti, who noted that the controversial figure resulted from a misinterpretation of accounting entries rather than evidence of missing funds, said the N210 trillion figure was derived by wrongly adding together two separate balance sheet items — N107 trillion recorded as sundry receivables, representing funds owed to the company, and about N103 trillion recorded as accrued expenses, representing liabilities owed by the company.
