ABUJA — The Nigerian Senate has ordered the arrest of former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, after he repeatedly failed to appear before a committee investigating N210 trillion in unaccounted public funds.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts made the order on Wednesday. Kyari had been summoned multiple times to explain the missing funds from between 2017 and 2023. He did not appear on any occasion.
A Financial Mystery
The N210 trillion figure has stunned Nigerians since it first surfaced in committee proceedings. To put it in context, that amount is more than three times Nigeria’s total federal budget for 2026.
Committee chairman Senator Bamidele Lamidi said lawmakers were running out of patience. “We have shown this man extraordinary courtesy,” Lamidi said. “He has treated this Senate with contempt. We will not allow that.”
What Citizens Are Asking
Ordinary Nigerians are asking where the money went. Market traders in Abuja and petty business owners interviewed by reporters expressed fury at the development.
“Every day they tell us there is no money for hospitals, no money for roads,” said Emeka Chukwu, a mechanic in the Wuse area of Abuja. “But somehow N210 trillion disappears and nobody is arrested? This is Nigeria.”
Kyari’s Response
Kyari’s camp has not issued a formal public statement. His lawyers have not appeared before the committee. Legal experts say ignoring a Senate summons is contemptuous and carries penalties under Nigerian law.
The NNPC has also been given a deadline to provide full documentation of the funds. Anti-corruption advocates say this case could become a landmark test of accountability in Nigeria’s oil sector.
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