The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), and other defaulting agencies to appear before it over their failure to honour previous invitations regarding audit queries.
The directive followed the agencies’ absence at the committee’s special legislative oversight and public hearing on Monday, forcing the postponement of proceedings.
The hearing was convened to examine the findings of the NEITI Oil and Gas Industry Audit Reports for 2021, 2022 and 2023, with the committee seeking clarifications on issues raised in the reports.
However, the failure of the invited agencies to attend the session stalled the commencement of the exercise, prompting the committee to issue the 72-hour deadline for their appearance.
The Senate panel warned the affected agencies to comply with the directive and respond to the outstanding audit queries, stressing that the hearing forms part of the National Assembly’s constitutional oversight responsibilities aimed at promoting accountability and transparency in the management of public resources.
