Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has issued a scathing indictment of the Nigerian government following revelations by the Senate of over ₦210 trillion in financial irregularities within the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) between 2017 and 2023.
In a statement released Thursday, Obi declared that “Nigeria has become a crime scene,” describing the findings as a national disgrace and a monumental betrayal of the Nigerian people.
“How else does one explain the Senate’s audit revelations—₦103 trillion in ‘accrued expenses,’ ₦107 trillion in unaccounted ‘receivables,’ and a total ₦210 trillion in discrepancies?” Obi asked. “No documentation. No accountability. No consequences.”
Obi compared the shocking figures with Nigeria’s total national budgets from 2017 to 2023, which amounted to ₦88.01 trillion—less than half of the alleged unaccounted funds.
“This is not just another scandal,” Obi said. “It is a damning confirmation of a nation held hostage by institutionalised corruption.”
The former Anambra governor listed the yearly budgets to indicate 2017: ₦7.44 trillion, 2018: ₦9.12 trillion, 2019: ₦8.92 trillion, 2020: ₦9.97 trillion (revised due to COVID), 2021: ₦13.59 trillion, 2022: ₦17.13 trillion, 2023: ₦21.83 trillion totalling ₦88.01 trillion.
Obi said the scale of financial mismanagement exposed by the Senate dwarfs the entire federal budgets over the same period, a situation he called “criminal and unsustainable.”
“No responsible nation can continue to function like this without confronting this truth,” he stated. “This criminality masquerading as governance must be stopped and dismantled for a better Nigeria.”
He concluded with his signature message of hope and reform: “A New Nigeria is POssible.”
So far, there has been no official response from the Presidency or the NNPCL to Obi’s statement or to the Senate’s findings.