By Umar Ismaila, Sokoto
The Ajiya Solidarity Forum (ASF) has called for independent scrutiny and senate committee leadership changes on the alleged N210 trillion discrepancy in Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) accounts.
ASF National Coordinator, Mr Usman Hamza, made the call at a press conference held in Sokoto.
Hamza dismissed Senator Ahmed Wadada’s allegation of N210 Trillion discrepancy on NNPC funds, describing the claim as a “mirage” and warned against political theatre in legislative oversight.
He said ASF is a coalition of professionals and stakeholders promoting transparency and the defense of public institutional integrity.
” We consider it right to respond to the recent inflammatory claims made by the Chairman of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, Senator Ahmed Wadada.
” The Forum categorically rejects the allegation of a N210 trillion discrepancy in the accounts NNPCL and views the subsequent threats of arrest warrants against former officials, including former Chief Financial Officer Mr. Umar Ajiya, as a coordinated campaign of political blackmail.
” Ajiya’s tenure as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) was marked as prudent and a transition that promoted NNPC to a commercial entity under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and the publication of the first audited financial statements in 43 years” he said.
According to him, the Forum respects the Senate’s constitutional mandate however deeply concerned by the mathematical impossibility of the figures being brandished and the subsequent threat to issue arrest warrants for former officials, including Ajiya.
ASF Coordinator argued that Wadada’s figure is not grounded in forensic reality, but in a misreading of NNPCL’s balance sheet.
The group leader noted that Nigeria’s 2024 national budget is roughly N28.7 trillion, making the idea that a single agency “lost” N210 trillion nearly eight times that amount economic fiction.
He added that total crude oil revenue from 2017 to 2023 does not aggregate to N210 trillion, so demanding a “refund” of money never earned is futile.
The forum leader highlighted that the two numbers of the Senate Committee might be incorrectly netted together: N103 trillion in accrued expenses, representing multi-year joint-venture liabilities for production costs, royalties and fees, not vanished cash.
He said other N107 trillion mentioned in receivables, or money owed to NNPCL, including subsidy debts from government labeling receivables as missing funds.
He added that the N5.9 billion incorporation cost had reflected complex international legal restructuring, not a mere name change.
He warned that phantom numbers, inflame public passion without constituting effective oversight tactics would damage Nigeria’s reputation with investors and devalue public servants’ contributions.
He urged the Senate Public Accounts Committee to engage in sober, technical reconciliation rather than media-led ultimatums, withdraw arrest threats against officials who have already submitted 19 detailed responses, and work within the PIA framework that distinguishes accrued liabilities from revenue discrepancies.
” Forum caution against using the Senate’s hallowed chambers to pursue personal vendettas damages Nigeria’s reputation with international investors.
” We called for an independent ethics investigation, changes in Senate committee leadership and also investigate the alleged bribe demands surrounding the linked issue, ” the coordinator urged.
He further urged for cease harassment of officials who have already provided detailed technical responses to the committee and promote moves for continue discussion against the pages of newspapers to a sober, forensic table where reality outweighs phantom numbers.