The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has issued a firm deadline of December 15 for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to appear before it and respond to allegations of revenue leakages running into trillions of naira.
The committee’s chairman, Rep. Bamidele Salam, gave the order during a session on Monday in Abuja after the NNPCL management once again failed to honour its long-standing invitations.
According to Salam, the company has ignored no fewer than seven separate summonses, each time citing various scheduling conflicts.
In a letter addressed to the committee and read by Salam, the NNPCL management blamed its absence at Monday’s hearing on a meeting with the president, asking for a 60-day extension.
Salam said the Auditor-General of the Federation had flagged issues relating to unremitted revenues that should have gone to the Federation Account but were allegedly withheld or unaccounted for through NNPCL’s operations.
The lawmaker noted that the revenues had not been remitted into the federation account.
“The only way we will agree that this is a new NNPCL is to see a shift in the conduct of your affairs, including your corporate management practice, which is part of accountability.”
He said the Reps would not allow the NNPCL to continue its seeming contempt of the parliament, so the Committee gave the company up till next week Monday, for a fresh appearance.
“We are dealing with so many issues. If you have been here in the last couple of weeks, you will see the things we are doing. Please ensure that whoever has the responsibility to submit any of the outstanding documents that have not been submitted does so. It is very important that we have the necessary documents to work with before the date,” he said.
Rep. Hassan Bappa said it was the responsibility of the committee to oversight institutions in Nigeria, stressing that NNPCL cannot be above the committee.
“I can tell you, if you see how NNPCL has been flouting various committees in this house; I think this is their final bus stop,” he said.
Supporting the argument, Rep. Kafilat Ogbara said that the company had failed to honour invitations several times and should not be allowed to dictate the new date.
Ogbara said that the committee should move it as a motion and compel NNPCL to appear before the week ran out, a position also held by the Deputy Chairman of the committee, Rep. Jeremiah Umaru.
Earlier, the NNPCL Liaison Officer to the National Assembly, Mr Umar Farooq, explained that the absence of NNPCL management was not deliberate.
Farooq explained that the management was already prepared to appear before the committee until a letter from the presidency came late Friday night.
Earlier, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar called for an urgent and independent probe into the N17.5 trillion reportedly spent by the President Bola Tinubu administration on pipeline security and associated costs within a single year.
Earlier, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar called for an urgent and independent probe into the N17.5 trillion reportedly spent by the President Bola Tinubu administration on pipeline security and associated costs within a single year.
He described the expenditure as not only unprecedented but also a “moral indictment” on the current government.
According to its recently released audited financial statement for the full year ended 2024, NNPC Ltd reported a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N5.4 trillion on a revenue of N45.1 trillion.