The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has ordered the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, to appear before it on July 10.
The committee said that it might be compelled to issue an arrest warrant if Ojulari failed to appear on the said date, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports on Friday.
The committee, chaired by Senator Ahmed Wadada, issued the directive during a brief session of the committee in Abuja after officials of the NNPCL failed to appear before it as expected.
Their presence was required to respond to queries raised last week regarding a staggering N210 trillion allegedly unaccounted for by the company between 2017 and 2023, as detailed in an audit report.
Rather than appear, the NNPCL, instead, in a letter signed by Adedapo Segun on behalf of the GCEO and read by the committee clerk, Sani Abdullahi, requested an additional two months to prepare a detailed response.
Wadada strongly rejected the request and condemned the absence of NNPCL officials, saying it demonstrated a disregard for the committee’s summons.
“We expected representatives from the NNPCL to be before us today to answer questions thrown at them last week on issues or queries raised in the audit reports before us.
“Their absence is unacceptable, and as a result, this committee is giving the relevant officials from NNPCL ten working days from today, which ends on July 10.
“This committee was not expecting any documents from NNPCL today, but answers to the eleven questions thrown at its representatives last week.
“Therefore, the GCEO of NNPCL must appear before us on July 10 for the expected answers.”
He added that the failure to appear on the scheduled date would leave the committee with no choice but to invoke and assert all its constitutional powers to compel the GCEO’s appearance.
Wadada also declared that the committee may adopt audit queries against other defaulting agencies.
“These agencies are the FCT High Court and the Federal Ministries of Solid Minerals, Steel Development, and Finance. If they fail to appear before the committee on Tuesday next week, they will hear from us,’’ he said.
Backstory
The Senate had earlier this month issued a one-week ultimatum to the NNPC Ltd to provide detailed explanations for financial discrepancies amounting to over N210 trillion in its audited financial statements from 2017 to 2023.
This directive was issued during a tense session of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, where the company’s Chief Financial Officer, Dapo Segun, appeared alongside other top executives.
Lawmakers expressed outrage over what they described as “mind-boggling irregularities” in the company’s records, particularly figures listed under accrued expenses and receivables, which were flagged in the audit report.
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