ABUJA— A youth accountability group is challenging the Senate to back up its viral ₦210 trillion NNPCL figure, saying the claim “doesn’t pass the market-woman test.”
The Fiscal Accountability Committee of Tomorrow, FACT, in a statement Friday signed by Mr Johnson Momodu, called the number a “category error disguised as a scandal” and demanded that lawmakers either prove it or pull it.
“Before outrage, before television panels, there is a simple duty we owe ourselves: check the math,” the group said.
FACT compared the allegation to Nigeria’s 2024 budget of ₦28.7 trillion. The ₦210 trillion figure, it noted, is more than seven times that amount.
“In plain language, the allegation suggests one company handled value equal to over seven full years of Nigeria’s total national budget within a seven-year window,” FACT said. “Even without a calculator, something should feel off.”
The group argued that the ₦210 trillion is not missing cash. It described the sum as a mix of NNPCL liabilities — joint venture costs, royalties — and receivables owed to NNPCL, including subsidy claims.
“Adding them together and presenting the total as ‘missing money’ is not a minor error. It is a fundamental misunderstanding, or worse, a convenient distortion,” the statement read.
FACT offered an analogy: “If you owe your landlord ₦500,000 and someone else owes you ₦500,000, you are not one million naira poorer. You are balanced, at least on paper.”
The group pointed out that Senate Public Accounts Committee Chairman Senator Wadada has clarified the Senate never said ₦210 trillion was stolen or missing. “Once you remove the suggestion of theft, what remains is not a scandal yet. What remains is an accounting question,” FACT said.
The committee listed three demands for the Senate:
1. Show the working: Publish the full methodology behind the ₦210 trillion figure for independent review.
2. Break the number down: Separate actual losses, if any, from liabilities and receivables.
3. Name names or money trails: Confirm whether any part has been traced to an individual, account, or unlawful payment.
“If the answer is no, then what we have is not a financial crime established in fact. What we have is a number in search of meaning,” FACT said.
The group said it is not defending anyone. “We are a coalition of Nigerian youths, accountants, and citizens who are simply tired of watching public debate collapse under the weight of exaggerated figures that defy common sense.”
FACT’s message to the Senate was blunt: “Show us the math. Or withdraw the figure.”
Right now, the group said, ₦210 trillion “behaves like a headline,” not a real number.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
