The senate has issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, to appear before it for 2024 budget defence.
This was made known by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Adeola Olamilekan, on Wednesday, December 6, 2023.
This is not the upper legislative chamber has fallen out with Kyari as they vowed to ensure that the NNPC boss and other top executives of the company are sacked over the N12 trillion allegedly spent on the turn around maintenance (TAM) of the country’s refineries.
Olamilekan, who asked Kyari to appear in company of the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), warned that failure to appear undermines the legislature and sabotages the process.
Concerns over 2024 budget
Olamilekan pointed out that the 2 officials are required to present the list of all individual companies operating with OML licenses in Nigeria as well as total production output approved on a daily basis.
The lawmaker expressed concerns that some of the revenues required to drive the 2024 budget was attributed to the NNPCL, which according to him, was owned by the Federal Government and responsible to it, and by extension the three arms of government.
What you should know
- Recall that about 2 weeks ago, the senate had drawn a battle line with NNPC, after the later shunned for a second time, summons by the upper legislative chamber to appear before its committee probing over N12 trillion expenditure on turn around maintenance of refineries in the country between 2010 and 2023.
- The absence of Kyari, whose entity is at the centre of the investigation, stalled efforts by the Senate panel to make progress on the matter, with the red chamber threatening to sack and prosecute the officials involved.
- Some of the agencies invited, whose chief executive officers failed to turn up but sent representatives instead, and who the committee threatened to sack and jail, include NNPCL, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and their subsidiaries.
More to follow…
