The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has ordered the Group Chief Govt Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm Restricted (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, to look earlier than it on July 10.
The committee stated that it may be compelled to subject an arrest warrant if Ojulari failed to look on the stated date, Information Company of Nigeria (NAN) stories on Friday.
The committee, chaired by Senator Ahmed Wadada, issued the directive throughout a short session of the committee in Abuja after officers of the NNPCL failed to look earlier than it as anticipated.
Their presence was required to reply to queries raised final week concerning a staggering N210 trillion allegedly unaccounted for by the corporate between 2017 and 2023, as detailed in an audit report.
Quite than seem, the NNPCL, as an alternative, in a letter signed by Adedapo Segun on behalf of the GCEO and skim by the committee clerk, Sani Abdullahi, requested a further two months to organize an in depth response.
Wadada strongly rejected the request and condemned the absence of NNPCL officers, saying it demonstrated a disregard for the committee’s summons.
“We anticipated representatives from the NNPCL to be earlier than us at the moment to reply questions thrown at them final week on points or queries raised within the audit stories earlier than us.
“Their absence is unacceptable, and in consequence, this committee is giving the related officers from NNPCL ten working days from at the moment, which ends on July 10.
“This committee was not anticipating any paperwork from NNPCL at the moment, however solutions to the eleven questions thrown at its representatives final week.
“Subsequently, the GCEO of NNPCL should seem earlier than us on July 10 for the anticipated solutions.”
He added that the failure to look on the scheduled date would go away the committee with no alternative however to invoke and assert all its constitutional powers to compel the GCEO’s look.
Wadada additionally declared that the committee might undertake audit queries towards different defaulting companies.
“These companies are the FCT Excessive Courtroom and the Federal Ministries of Strong Minerals, Metal Improvement, and Finance. In the event that they fail to look earlier than the committee on Tuesday subsequent week, they are going to hear from us,’’ he stated.
Backstory
The Senate had earlier this month issued a one-week ultimatum to the NNPC Ltd to supply detailed explanations for monetary discrepancies amounting to over N210 trillion in its audited monetary statements from 2017 to 2023.
This directive was issued throughout a tense session of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, the place the corporate’s Chief Monetary Officer, Dapo Segun, appeared alongside different prime executives.
Lawmakers expressed outrage over what they described as “mind-boggling irregularities” within the firm’s data, notably figures listed beneath accrued bills and receivables, which had been flagged within the audit report.
Be First to Comment