• Gives companies 48 hours to appear over NEITI audit queries
•Dubri disputes $3.03m royalty, gas flare debts
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) on Tuesday gave Seplat Energy Plc, Network E&P Nigeria Limited, All Grace Energy Limited, and Aradel Energy Limited 48 hours to appear before it over queries raised in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 audit reports of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, warned that failure by the affected oil companies to honour the fresh summons would trigger the full invocation of National Assembly’s constitutional powers.
The ultimatum followed the displeasure of members of the committee over the repeated failure of some of the companies to appear before it and respond to queries contained in the NEITI reports.
Network E&P Nigeria Limited came under particular scrutiny after it allegedly failed to honour the committee’s invitation on two previous occasions.
The development prompted Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) to call for sanctions against the company, describing a letter written by Network E&P to the committee as “disturbing and provocative”.
Ningi had taken exception to the company’s position that its regulatory relationship was primarily with Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), rather than the senate committee.
He insisted that National Assembly was constitutionally empowered to summon any person, company or government agency to provide explanations on matters under investigation.
According to him, Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution empower the National Assembly to conduct investigations and summon relevant persons or institutions where necessary.
“The senate and, by extension, the National Assembly, is the custodian of Nigeria’s laws and has the power to invite anybody or agency for explanations on issues raised against them,” Ningi said.
Supporting the call for sanctions, Senator Shehu Kaka Lawan (APC, Borno Central) urged the committee to invoke its constitutional powers against the managements of companies that continued to disregard its invitations.
Responding to the lawmakers’ concerns, Dankwambo directed Managing Director of Network E&P Nigeria Limited to appear before the committee unfailingly on Thursday.
“Having failed to honour the invitation of this committee two consecutive times, the Managing Director of Network E&P Nigeria Limited should appear before us unfailingly on Thursday this week or risk full invocation of legislative powers against him,” Dankwambo warned.
The committee subsequently extended similar 48-hour ultimatums to the managing directors of All Grace Energy Limited, Aradel Energy Limited and Seplat Energy after noting their absence during Tuesday’s proceedings.
The committee’s action came against the backdrop of its ongoing scrutiny of findings contained in NEITI’s audit reports, particularly outstanding financial obligations attributed to companies operating in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
However, Dubri Oil Company Limited, which appeared before the committee, challenged a $3.025 million liability attributed to it in the NEITI report.
NEITI had reported, based on information submitted by NUPRC in 2025, that Dubri Oil owed $3.025 million in outstanding obligations, comprising $2.378 million in gas flare-related debts and $646,605.55 in oil production royalties.
But a representative of Dubri Oil, Soyode Clement, rejected the liability, telling the committee that the figures arose from a reconciliation dispute between the company and NUPRC.
Clement said the dispute had subsequently been resolved and that no outstanding debt remained against Dubri Oil.
He presented documents to the committee in support of the company’s position.
The committee said it would critically examine the documents before determining whether Dubri Oil should be issued a clean bill of health in respect of the disputed liabilities.
The proceedings formed part of the senate’s continuing examination of revenue remittances, outstanding obligations, and other financial discrepancies identified in NEITI’s audit reports, covering the country’s extractive industries.
With the fresh 48-hour ultimatum, the committee signalled that oil companies would no longer be allowed to disregard its invitations or evade scrutiny of financial obligations arising from their operations in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.