The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has issued a final 72-hour ultimatum to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and several other government agencies to appear before it over their failure to respond to audit queries.
The directive was issued during the committee’s meeting on Monday after officials of the invited agencies failed to honour the summons or provide any formal explanation for their absence.
Chairman of the committee, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, said the invitations formed part of the committee’s constitutional oversight responsibilities and efforts to clear pending audit matters.
“We wanted to reduce the volume of work to enhance our oversight. The letters and invitations were issued, but our guests have not arrived,” Dankwambo said.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the agencies’ absence, committee member Senator Babangida Hussaini described the action as a sign of disrespect to the National Assembly.
“The committee has powers, and it is most disrespectful to the National Assembly for any agency to fail to appear to respond to audit queries. This committee needs to take drastic action. The Senate is being taken for granted, and that must stop forthwith,” he said.
Senator Patrick Ndubueze also advocated sanctions against the defaulting agencies, arguing that their failure to honour the invitations without any explanation showed disregard for the legislature.
“The proper consequences should be laid down and carried out. They don’t deserve a second chance. If they can’t attend to this important arm of government after invitations were sent and no explanations were given, they don’t deserve another chance,” he stated.
Following deliberations, the committee resolved to issue a final 72-hour deadline for the affected agencies to appear before it on August 6, warning that failure to comply could trigger further legislative action.
