The Nigerian Senate has run out of patience with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, and it is making that position known in unmistakable terms.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has issued a firm summons requiring NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer Engineer Bayo Ojulari to appear before it on April 29, bringing with him immediate past GCEO Mele Kyari, former Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajia, Dr. Bala Wunti, and the company’s external auditors. The matter before the committee involves N210 trillion flagged in audit reports covering 2017 to 2023 that lawmakers say has not been adequately explained.
The motion was moved by Senator Osita Izunaso and seconded by former Governor Adams Oshiomhole. Committee Chairman Senator Aliyu Wadada made clear that the Senate has already raised 19 separate queries on the matter and found none of the responses satisfactory.
The core of the committee’s frustration centres on two figures. The first is N103 trillion that NNPCL has broadly classified as liabilities without providing a detailed breakdown of what those liabilities consist of. Wadada said liabilities are not a single line item and that the Senate expects a clear account of every component, including retention fees, legal fees, and audit fees. The second is N107 trillion that the company says was spent on Joint Venture Cash Calls and debts owed by unnamed defunct banks. The committee is demanding the identities of those banks and a full accounting of how those funds were applied.
Wadada set April 29 as a final deadline, warning that the full weight of the Senate’s constitutional powers to compel attendance would be brought to bear if the executives fail to appear.
Senator Abdul Ningi had called for a firmer stance earlier in the session, framing the issue as one that goes beyond NNPCL to the broader question of whether Nigerian public officials respect the authority of the legislature. He described a growing pattern of government officials ignoring National Assembly summons as a threat to the foundations of democratic accountability.
The April 29 date now stands as a test not only of NNPCL’s willingness to be transparent about the management of the country’s oil revenues, but of the legislature’s capacity to enforce its constitutional oversight mandate when faced with resistance from powerful institutions.
