Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in 2023 and a former Anambra governor, spoke again on his topic of corruption trend of the Nigerian oil sector.
This time he is slamming the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for publishing an explosive report of the fiscal misconduct of an outrageous N210 trillion between 2017-2023.
On his real X account on his real post, Obi was not shy. He described the nation as a crime scene, adding, “It is with the utmost sadness that I once again reaffirm what I have consistently said: Nigeria has become a crime scene.”
”How else does one explain the recent revelation by the Senate, which uncovered the audited accounts of the NNPC from 2017 to 2023? The Senate uncovered ₦210 trillion in financial irregularities, ₦103 trillion in so-called ‘accrued expenses’, and another ₦107 trillion in unaccounted ‘receivables.’ No documentation. No accountability. No consequences,” he continued.
The Senate’s audit had been for six years of accounts for NNPCL, and senators were said to be shocked by the extent of gaps. At a melodramatized hearing, the Chief Financial Officer of the firm, Dapo Segun, and other senior managers were called before parliamentarians to come and explain themselves. But they had nothing to explain, and as such, a notice of explanation was issued on the Senate for one week.
Obi gave the figures of the astronomical gap between the country’s total 2017 to 2023 budget and the NNPCL account violations. The country’s total 2017 to 2023 budget is N88 trillion. Double that is the mystery and the NNPCL audit alone, N210 trillion.
This, Obi insists, is not a head media scandal. This is a heartland betrayal. “This is not just another scandal, it is a clear and damning confirmation of a nation held hostage by monumental corruption,” Obi added.
He cautioned that the nation cannot continue to close its eyes to corruption gnawing at institutions, that such unbridled economic corruption is not only unsustainable but dangerous. “This is a criminal institutionalised betrayal of the Nigerian people and a grave threat to the future of the society our children will live in.”
Then Governor Huwaida also demanded that no civilized government in the world would ever accept any blindness to things as when billions of money disappeared before public institutions. Uprooting of what he termed as “criminality masquerading as governance” and leadership-level accountability were his demands.
Why his answer is all the more remarkable is that Obi is committed to transparency, fiscal discipline, and reform, values he has espoused throughout his political career. By laying side by side the entire national budgets and the gone trillions, not only does he highlight the magnitude of the disappearance but also exposes a culture of impunity that has taken hold in Nigeria’s public life.
While explanations are demanded in the Senate and Nigerians demand to be told, Obi sheds light. The decay in NNPCL, if it is not addressed, is not merely an economic loss but a frontal assault on the future of Nigeria. His final words, “A new Nigeria is POssible,” are not a slogan; it’s a call to account to those to whom the country has committed her wealth.
The latest scandal is a reminder that Nigeria’s best and most accurate closest work is institutional reform.
