Ojulari Continues in Profligacy, Chatters Private Jets to Brazil Months After Opulent Rwandan Retreat
The NNPC board, under the chairmanship of Ahmadu Musa Kida and the stewardship of Ojulari, stayed at the prestigious Kigali Marriott Hotel, where the company is said to have reserved the entire premises.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, helmed by its Group Chief Executive Officer, Bashir Ojulari, has reportedly chartered private jets for a voyage to Brazil, as disclosed by SaharaReporters.
While the specifics of the Brazilian mission remain shrouded in mystery, it follows closely on the heels of an exclusive SaharaReporters exposé detailing the NNPC Board’s indulgent retreat to Kigali, Rwanda, mere days after the Nigerian Senate expressed alarm over the company’s audited financial accounts.
“Just two months subsequent to the lavish Kigali retreat, the NNPC management head has arranged private jets for a journey to Brazil,” revealed a high-level source.
Insiders confirmed the coordination of no fewer than five private jets to transport board members and senior management to Kigali. This excursion, they noted, was orchestrated by Abdullahi Bashir-Haske, the founder of AA & R Investment Group and son-in-law to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The NNPC board, led by Ahmadu Musa Kida and managed by Ojulari, took residence at the opulent Kigali Marriott Hotel, reportedly securing the entire establishment.
The hotel’s room rates span from $173 per night for standard suites to nearly $3,800 for luxury accommodations, with an average cost of $320 per night.
According to multiple sources, four out of the five jets utilized for the Kigali retreat were supplied by Bashir-Haske, a businessman with deep-rooted connections to Nigeria’s political elite and energy sector transactions.
Bashir-Haske has been declared wanted for alleged criminal conspiracy and money laundering.
His enterprise, AA & R Investment Group, has been previously associated with oil bloc allocations. When approached, he neither responded to calls nor provided any comment.
Subsequently, SaharaReporters was contacted by an intermediary who denied Bashir-Haske’s involvement in arranging the jets and implored that the story remain unpublished. When questioned why Bashir-Haske himself would not directly communicate, the caller indicated his unwillingness to engage with SaharaReporters.
Critics have long alleged that the NNPC is overstaffed, corrupt, and inefficient, despite its pivotal role in Nigeria’s economy.
On Friday, SaharaReporters reported that President Bola Tinubu had arrived at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California, USA, en route to Brazil.
SaharaReporters learned that the Nigerian presidential aircraft, Air Force One (NAF-001), registered as 5N-FGA and designated by the call sign Eagle One during official flights, touched down at LAX on Friday.
According to the State House, Tinubu is slated to visit Brazil from Sunday, August 24, to Monday, August 25, at the behest of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During his stay in Brazil, he is expected to participate in a bilateral meeting with his host and attend a business forum with Brazilian investors.
The President had departed Abuja on Thursday, August 14, embarking on a working journey encompassing Japan and Brazil, with a brief stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In Japan, he partook in the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) held in Yokohama from August 20 to 22.
In June, the Nigerian Senate called upon the NNPC to account for financial discrepancies exceeding ₦210 trillion in its audited statements spanning the years 2017 to 2023.
This directive was issued during a session of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, where NNPCL’s Chief Financial Officer, Dapo Segun, appeared alongside other senior executives to address the inquiries.
Lawmakers reacted with incredulity, describing the discrepancies, particularly in the domains of accrued expenses and receivables, as “mind-boggling” and profoundly disconcerting.
Committee Chairman Senator Aliyu Wadada condemned the irregularities as “unacceptable,” pledging that the Senate would employ the full extent of its oversight authority to ensure accountability.
The panel stated, “Legal fees were accrued without any explanation or documentation regarding the legal services rendered. The auditors’ fees raise similar questions. There are no clear justifications. Everything we’ve seen and heard from the audited financial statements is troubling.”
“Trillions of naira are in question, and the new document they presented this afternoon doesn’t align with what’s already in their audited report. It’s completely independent and contradictory,” Wadada asserted.
“We are scrutinizing over ₦210 trillion in just two categories—accrued expenses and receivables. These are not mere rounding errors; they pose fundamental questions about transparency and financial integrity.”
The Senate expressed grave concerns over the audited reports, which revealed ₦103 trillion in accrued expenses. This encompassed ₦600 billion earmarked as retention fees, alongside ambiguous legal fees and auditor charges—none of which were substantiated by documentation or contractual references.
Further fueling suspicions, the committee highlighted another ₦103 trillion listed under receivables. Just prior to the hearing, NNPCL submitted a revised document that directly contradicted figures in the publicly released audit, prompting criticism over the reliability and transparency of the financial disclosures.
The senator voiced apprehension that NNPCL proceeded to release and approve the audited financial statements despite ongoing internal reconciliation processes.
He cautioned that such premature actions could tarnish Nigeria’s credibility in the global financial sphere, particularly as the company gears up for its anticipated Initial Public Offering (IPO).
“How do you proceed to finalize audited accounts while still reconciling such colossal figures?” he questioned.
In a revelation that intensified concerns, the Senate unearthed that between 2017 and 2021, the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS)—a principal subsidiary of NNPCL—declared profits totaling ₦9 trillion, even as the parent company, NNPCL, recorded a loss of ₦16 billion over the same period.
“How can a subsidiary report trillions in profit while the parent company suffers losses?” Wadada queried. “That calculation is incongruous.”
