ABUJA – Drama played out in the Senate on Wednesday as lawmakers ordered security agencies to arrest former NNPCL boss Mele Kyari for dodging questions on N210 trillion that auditors say cannot be accounted for between 2017 and 2023.
Kyari, who is said to be receiving treatment in Germany, failed to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts again. That was the last straw.
“Enough is enough,” Deputy Chairman Peter Nwaebonyi told the committee. “This is the 9th time we’re sitting on these 19 queries from the Auditor-General. We can’t keep chasing shadows.”
Senators Saliu Mustapha and Tony Nwoye begged for mercy, saying Kyari was ill and deserved one more chance. But the room was not in a forgiving mood.
Senator Abdul Ningi cut in: “Verbal excuse? We need medical papers, not stories.” Minutes later, Senator Victor Umeh moved the motion: arrest him. The vote was swift.
Chairman Ibrahim Dankwabo didn’t mince words: “Anywhere Mele Kyari is, he should be arrested and brought before this committee.”
‘You can’t lose what you never had’
While senators fumed, former NNPCL Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajiya Isa sat calmly and pushed back hard.
“Let’s be honest,” Ajiya said. “If ₦210 trillion vanished under us, we wouldn’t have dared publish audited accounts. For 40 years NNPC didn’t even release accounts. We did.
“₦210 trillion is huge. Our total revenue in those years was about ₦54.5 trillion before costs. How do you misplace more money than you ever made? It doesn’t add up.”
He looked pained as he addressed claims that N5.8 billion was spent just to register NNPC Limited. “Check CAC, check NRS. Don’t ruin reputations with guesses,” he urged.
Ajiya said reckless allegations don’t just hurt officials – they hurt Nigeria. He recalled how an “unpatriotic petition” once killed a $2.5 billion Chinese loan for the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline, despite federal guarantees.
“When you say ₦210 trillion is missing, Nigerians deserve to know: missing from where? Where did it go? NFIU, EFCC should dig it up and show us the truth,” he said.
For ordinary Nigerians watching, the numbers are staggering. ₦210 trillion is more than Nigeria’s annual budget. It’s school fees, hospital beds, and roads that never got built.
The committee asked Ajiya and former Upstream boss Bala Wunti to return in two weeks.
