Kingsley Ade Adegbite: N210tn mirage – How Wadada’s claim on NNPCL collapsed under simple arithmetic

In Nigeria’s already fragile accusation environment, numbers person tremendous power. When a nationalist authoritative declares that ₦210 trillion has gone missing, the fig is ample capable to daze citizens, predominate headlines and inflame nationalist anger. That is precisely wherefore specified claims indispensable beryllium handled with attraction and responsibility.

Unfortunately, Senator Ahmed Wadada’s allegation of ₦210 trillion discrepancies successful the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) collapses nether adjacent the astir basal scrutiny.

Once the arithmetic, organization operation and fiscal discourse are examined, the assertion begins to look little similar forensic oversight and much similar a lawsuit of governmental theatre designed to play to the gallery.

A Number That Defies Economic Reality

Start with the fig itself.

₦210 trillion is not conscionable large. It is astronomical wrong the discourse of Nigeria’s economy.

Between 2017 and 2020, Nigeria’s full national fund ranged astir betwixt ₦7 trillion and ₦10 trillion annually, lone rising importantly successful aboriginal years. Even successful caller budgets, nationalist spending has struggled to transverse ₦20 trillion.

In elemental terms, the allegation suggests that a azygous authorities institution someway misplaced an magnitude respective times larger than Nigeria’s yearly nationalist fund for aggregate years combined.

For specified a assertion to clasp water, NNPCL would person ha...