The Senate Public Accounts Committee’s planned probe of the 2021–2023 audit reports on Nigeria’s Oil and Gas industry suffered a setback following the absence of key agencies invited to a public hearing on reports submitted by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The agencies that failed to appear included the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Also absent was the management of NEITI, the author of the audit reports under review.
The Senate Committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe North), had scheduled a three-week public hearing to scrutinise findings contained in the audit reports and expected the attendance of heads and management teams of the affected agencies.
However, at the commencement of proceedings on Monday, none of the invited agencies was represented, prompting strong reactions from committee members.
Angered by the development, the committee directed the management of the three agencies to appear before it unfailingly on Thursday, August 6, 2026.
Announcing the committee’s resolution, Senator Dankwambo warned that failure by any of the agencies to honour the rescheduled invitation would attract sanctions in line with relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Senate Standing Orders.
Senator Babangida Hussaini (Jigawa North-West), a member of the committee, urged the panel to invoke constitutional and parliamentary powers against the defaulting agencies.
“I rely on the constitutional provisions, Sections 47 and 60 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as well as the relevant provisions of our Standing Rules. The powers of this committee are derived from these provisions,” Hussaini said.
“It is a distraction to the institution of the National Assembly for any agency, by whatever name or designation, to refuse to appear and answer audit queries that have been validly raised,” he added.
Another committee member, Senator Patrick Ndubueze (Imo North), advocated immediate sanctions against the heads of the affected agencies rather than granting them another opportunity to appear.
“Mr. Chairman, this reflects the level of commitment of government agencies in this country. No letter was written. No excuse was offered. No representative was sent to appear before the committee to explain why the chief executives could not attend. To me, they do not deserve to be given any second chance of appearance,” he said.
Despite the setback, the committee said it would continue with the public hearing on Tuesday, with expected appearances by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), among other agencies.
The hearing is part of the Senate’s ongoing oversight of the extractive sector and efforts to ensure accountability, transparency and compliance with audit recommendations contained in NEITI’s reports.
