A Senate committee has issued a 10-day ultimatum to the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Bayo Ojulari, demanding a full explanation for N210 trillion in financial discrepancies or face arrest, prosecution, and public censure. The warning, delivered during a tense session on Thursday at the National Assembly, marks a dramatic escalation in a deepening standoff between lawmakers and the leadership of the state-owned oil firm.
The Senate Public Accounts Committee, led by Senator Aliyu Wadada, accused the NNPCL of repeated disregard for legislative summons and described its failure to account for the staggering financial inconsistencies as unacceptable. Wadada said the discrepancies include N103 trillion in unexplained accrued expenses and vague asset figures not properly netted off or backed by documentation. He emphasized that the committee was not alleging theft but insisted that the company must present a coherent and verifiable financial report.
Lawmakers took particular issue with Ojulari’s continued absence from oversight hearings, calling the move disrespectful and evasive. Senator Wadada warned that no official is above the law and that if the NNPCL leadership continues to shun accountability, the Senate would invoke its constitutional powers to summon and prosecute. Backing this stance, Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan described the company’s conduct as “a slap in the face” of both the Senate and the Nigerian public.
The committee has now ruled that Ojulari must personally appear before it, with a new date to be communicated shortly. Until then, the audit report, which spans NNPCL’s 2017 to 2023 financials, remains under intense scrutiny (its figures suspended in doubt) and the Senate insisting that public accountability is non-negotiable.
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