Lists of Key Issues As FG Announces Plan To Investigate NNPC’s Dealings Under Mele Kyari

• Nigeria's Finance Minister Wale Edun has announced plans to look into the activities of NNPC management under Mele Kyari
• Kyari recently handed over to Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited
• There have been protests and petitions written for the federal government to probe several deals under the immediate past NNPCL boss

Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of business journalism experience with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends

Wale Edun, Nigeria’s Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, has announced that a forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is currently underway.

He disclosed this during the Nigeria Investor Presentation organised by JP Morgan at the ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, DC on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

Kyari was first appointed NNPC chief by former President Muhammadu Buhari but was reappointed in 2023 by President Bola Tinubu.

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Forensic audit on NNPC under Mele Kyari

According to him, the audit will look into the actions taken by the previous management in the running of the state-owned oil company.

He said:

“There’s a forensic audit of NNPC underway so that we can really understand what has happened in the past. As for now, there’s a reconciliation exercise going on..

“Part of that burden shifted from the government’s budget to NNPC. So, they have a legitimate claim and they have some arrears that need to be given to them.

“But then it’s a two-sided thing. There’s a reconciliation on underway. And the most important thing is that NNPC needs to come to the table with more oil production, more dollar revenue, and indeed, more revenue to the federation. That’s the mandate they have been given and I think they will deliver.”

NNPC audit: List of issues in focus

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Some of the issues that are expected to be looked into will be NNPC fuel subsidy claims, domestic crude sales, irregular deductions of funds captured in the 2021 auditor-general’s annual report, among others.

Edun noted that the investigation is part of broader efforts to improve transparency and restore confidence in the country’s oil revenue management, The Nation reports.

The minister explained that while some subsidy-related obligations had shifted from the government’s budget to the state oil firm, there remained outstanding arrears owed to NNPC. However, he stressed the importance of accountability and revenue generation.

He added:

It’s a two-sided thing. There’s a reconciliation underway. The most important thing is that NNPC needs to come to the table with more oil production, more dollar revenue, and indeed, more revenue to the federation."

Wale Edun speaks on economic growth plan

Punch reports that Edun also outlined the federal government’s broader economic targets, including plans to grow Nigeria’s GDP by 7%, up from the current 3%, through key sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure, and financial services.

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He said:

“We want to open the agric sector and have enough availability of food to close the food supply gap.

“Between agric, infrastructure and financial reforms, we will put the economy on a 7% growth path.

“I am confident that if we continue in the direction we have gone so far, we will continue to see progress,"

He noted that the removal of the petrol subsidy and the introduction of a more efficient foreign exchange system had laid the groundwork for industrialisation and economic expansion.

Naira appreciates, CBN adjusts exchange rates

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Nigerian currency, the naira, rallied against the US dollar in the FX market after depreciating the previous day.

Data from the CBN disclosed that the naira closed trading at N1,603 to a dollar from N1,606 the previous day.

The naira’s recovery comes amid several FX interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Proofreading by James Ojo, copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng