Ignatius Okorocha, Abuja
The planned probe of 2021 to 2023 Audit Reports on the oil and gas industry conducted by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative ( NEITI) suffered a setback in the Senate on Monday as Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN), Niger Delta Development Commission ( NDDC) and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission ( NUPRC) refused to appear at the public hearing organised by Public Accounts Committee of the Senate.
The Committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo ( Gombe North), had on the strength of Audits reports presented to it by NEITI, organised three weeks long public hearing, expected to be attended by heads and management teams of the affected agencies .
But at the start of the public hearing on Monday, none of the three invited agencies namely CBN, NDDC and NUPRC attended the session including management of NEITI the author of the audit reports.
Miffed by their absence, the committee directed that management of the three agencies must unfailingly appear before it on Thursday this week, August 6, 2026.
Senator Dankwabo who announced the resolution, stressed that failure by any of the affected agencies’ management to honour the rescheduled appearance, would attract serious sanctions as provided for by relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution and Senate’s standing order .
Earlier before the resolution, a member of the committee, Senator Babangida Hussaini ( Jigawa North West) recommended that relevant provisions of the constitution and Senate rules should be invoked against heads of the affected agencies.
“I rely on the constitutional provisions, sections 47 and 60 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as the relevant provisions of our Standing Rules.
“The powers of this committee are derived from these provisions. It is a distraction to the institution of the National Assembly for any agency, by whatever name or designation, to refuse to appear and answer audit queries that have been validly raised.
“I think this committee is being taken for granted, and by extension, Nigerians are being taken for granted.The institutional integrity of the Senate is being undermined. Mr. Chairman, drastic measures need to be taken in line with our rules,” he said.
Another member of the committee, Senator Patrick Ndubueze ( Imo North) canvassed for outright sanctions against heads of the absentee agencies and not second chance for appearance to protect the integrity of the Senate .
He said, “Mr Chairman, this reflects the level of commitment of government agencies in this country. No letter was written, no excuse was offered, no representative was sent to appear before the committee to explain why the chief executives could not attend.
“To me , they don’t deserve to be given any second chance of appearance.”
The Committee will however, forge ahead with the public hearing on Tuesday with expected appearances of National Security Adviser, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority ( NMDPRA), Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission ( RMAFC), etc.
For a better society
Follow us across our platforms:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/championnewsonline/
Facebook – https://web.facebook.com/championnewsonline
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/champion-newspapers-limited/
https://x.com/championnewsng/
You can also like and comment on our YouTube videos.
https://youtu.be/QIBfD1tT80w?si=R4Qf3so2LxYu3GC2
