For the fourth time, NNPC’s Ojulari fails to appear before Senate Committee

For the fourth time in less than two months, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), Engineer Bashir Ojulari, has failed to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.

The Chief Executive Officer of the nation’s oil giant has been summoned by the Senate to respond to queries raised over the NNPCL’s audited financial statements spanning 2017 to 2023.

The Senate is demanding explanations from NNPCL over financial discrepancies totalling over ₦210 trillion.

The Senate Committee, led by Senator Aliyu Wadada, had raised concerns over the audited reports, citing accrued expenses of ₦103 trillion, which included ₦600 billion in retention fees, unspecified legal fees, and auditor charges—all without any accompanying documentation or referenced contracts.

At the sitting on Tuesday, Ojulari was again absent.

A letter signed by NNPCL Chief Financial Officer, Adedayo Segun, and addressed to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Wadada, disclosed that Ojulari was absent because he received a call from the Presidential Villa for an urgent appointment with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Dissatisfied with the excuse, the lawmakers, in their individual submissions, alleged that the reason given was flimsy, citing previous experiences with the NNPCL GCEO in which he failed to appear before the Committee.

Senator Victor Umeh dismissed the letter signed by the corporation’s Chief Financial Officer as suspicious.

He said: “That letter is suspicious; it is a way of avoiding this Committee. I suggest that the Committee, as a way to move forward, make a formal complaint to Mr President. Using the Presidency as an excuse not to appear should not be tolerated.

“We should write the President and ask Ojulari to choose a date. Let him not tell us next time that the Vice President has invited him. We aren’t asking him personal questions but requesting that he respond to audit queries.”

Senator Joel-Onowakpo Thomas spoke in a similar vein.

“I am beginning to think that he believes he isn’t answerable to this Committee. This is the fourth time. I believe he has made up his mind not to come. I am beginning to think that there will never be a time he will come.”

Senator Aminu Abbas declared that the GCEO of NNPCL has scant regard for the National Assembly.

“The NNPCL GCEO isn’t bigger than Nigeria; he can’t be bigger than us. Let him present himself tomorrow, otherwise, we will close the chapter.”

In his concluding remarks, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Aliyu Wadada, expressed the Committee’s disaffection over what he called brazen disrespect for the Parliament.

He said: “The GCEO, NNPCL, is way below the NASS. We are sitting on a mandate; he sits on an appointment. He can be fired tomorrow. Nobody wants to witch-hunt him.”

Addressing Mr Adedayo, Senator Wadada asked: “How can he talk to us through you? We aren’t his aides. The communication should come to us respectfully. No GCEO is bigger than the National Assembly. The President himself isn’t bigger than us; that’s why he comes here.

“We want these issues sorted out. The GCEO, NNPCL, is hereby ordered to appear here tomorrow (Wednesday) by 3 p.m.”

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