The Nigerian Senate has clarified that it never accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited of stealing any money, but that the alleged N210 trillion financial infraction in the 2017-2023 audit report must be accounted for by the company.
Chairman of Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Aliyu Wadada made the clarification on Thursday at the resumed hearing of the committee on the 2017-2023 Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation’s audit on expenditure of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Wadada maintained that the position of the committee is that NNPCL did not account for the said fund as raised by the audit report, contrary to media reports that the money had been stolen by the company.
Recall that the committee had, at an investigative session with management of NNPCL on June 26, directed the company’s Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Bayo Ojulari, to appear before it on July 10.
Ojulari’s appearance, the Senate said, was to enable him to account for the fund and answer other queries raised against NNPCL in the audit report.
Based on the directive, the committee, at the resumed hearing on Thursday, did not allow NNPCL’s Chief Financial Officer, Mr Dapo Segun, to make any presentation on Ojulari’s behalf.
The NNPCL GCEO was said to have travelled for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting in Vienna, Austria.
The committee, via its chairman, therefore, directed Ojulari to appear before it unfailingly on a date to be communicated to explain the alleged financial infractions and other queries raised against NNPCL.
Wadada, before making the declaration, clarified that the committee did not have anything against anyone in NNPCL, but was only discharging its constitutional duty of making Nigeria work by investigating how public funds were expended by MDAs.
“I don’t have anything against anybody in NNPCL, just as other members of the committee, but we are just carrying out our constitutional mandate of ensuring probity and accountability in the spending of public funds.
“NNPCL, as clearly stated in the audit report of 2017 to 2023, must account for the N210 trillion financial infraction. This committee never said NNPCL stole the money but it is requesting it to account for the fund.
“The GCEO of NNPCL must appear before this committee to give account and offer explanation on other queries raised,” he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Abdul Ningi earlier accused NNPCL of taking the committee for granted with the recurring absence of its GCEO from important sessions.
“It is very disturbing and unacceptable for the GCEO of NNPCL to dishonour this committee’s invitation for his appearance again.
“He has never appeared before this committee since his appointment, which is really disturbing. Invitation for his appearance before the committee was sent to him before the OPEC meeting.
“As far as we are concerned, he is supposed to use his discretion on where to be here today, which should be before the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He must appear before this committee as directed,” Ningi said
Also, Sen. Adams Oshiomhole frowned at NNPCL GCEO’s persistent failure to appear before the committee.
“Nobody is bigger than the country, and anybody who feels so has no business in government.
“NNPCL GCEO should make good use of the window of invitation for appearance being offered him now before the door is shut against him.
“The committee is not appealing but ordering him to appear before it which, in his own interest, must be obeyed,” Oshiomhole said.