The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)has been given a three-week ultimatum by the Senate Public Accounts Committee to respond to 19 queries raised by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation concerning an unaccounted sum of N210 trillion.
The committee, chaired by Senator Ahmed Wadada (Nasarawa West), clarified that the money in question was not declared stolen or missing, but must be properly accounted for.
The deadline was issued to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Engineer Bayo Ojulari, on Tuesday after the committee accepted his apology for failing to honour four previous invitations.
Ojulari, while apologising for his absence, told the lawmakers he needed time to thoroughly study the queries before responding.
He said, “I’m just over 100 days in the office as the GCEO of NNPCL. I still need time to do further digging, given the perspectives I have heard now into the issues, this is coming in the midst of a huge national assignment, your explanation now changes my perspective about the issues.
“I need to understand the issues myself so I can respond appropriately. I will get a team and get the details properly reconciled so we can work to provide answers to the queries.
“In doing this, I will surely engage the external auditors and other relevant groups,” he added.
Although Ojulari had asked for four weeks, the committee insisted on three, which he agreed would be sufficient to produce a detailed written response.
Explaining the nature of the queries, Senator Wadada said the amount involved was split between N103 trillion in liabilities and N107 trillion in assets, all of which must be accounted for.
“They are questions extracted from the audited financial statements of the NNPCL by the Auditor General covering 2017 to 2023.
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“Also this committee had not at any time said the N210trillion was stolen or missing. What the committee is doing, is to investigate queries raised in the report in line with its constitutional mandate.
“Therefore, the committee is giving NNPCL three weeks to forward written responses to it on all the 19 queries after which the GCEO will be invited along with other management staff for physical appearance and defence,” Wadada said.
Earlier, committee members took turns to stress the gravity of the issues and the need for transparency from the national oil company, expressing confidence that Ojulari and his team would provide clarity.
Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) said: “We are happy to have you because we have been waiting for you. One thing that must be stated clearly is that we need transparency, and NNPCL is in possession of Nigeria’s economic prosperity.”
Senator Babangida Hussaini (Jigawa North West) noted that the company must treat the queries with utmost seriousness.
“There is need for NNPCL’s management team to look into the issues raised since governance is a continuum,” he said. “The issues are germane and critical.”
Meanwhile, Senator Tony Nwoye (Anambra North) said: “It is very important and germane to give them (NNPCL), fair hearing. Maybe the audited report is not correct.”
