The Senate’s planned investigation into the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, 2021 to 2023 Audit Reports on the oil and gas industry suffered a setback on Monday as relevant agencies invited by the Chamber failed to honour the invitation.
Among the agencies that failed to appear before the Senate Public Accounts Committee are: the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC.
The Committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, Gombe North, had organised a three-week public hearing to consider audit findings presented by NEITI and to quiz heads and management teams of affected agencies.
However, at the commencement of the hearing on Monday, none of the three invited agencies was represented. Even NEITI, the author of the audit reports, was absent.
Angered by the development, the Committee directed the management of CBN, NDDC and NUPRC to appear unfailingly on Thursday, August 6, 2026.
Announcing the resolution, Senator Dankwambo warned that failure by any of the agencies to honour the rescheduled appearance would attract sanctions provided for under the 1999 Constitution and the Senate Standing Orders.
Earlier, a member of the committee, Senator Babangida Hussaini, Jigawa North West, had urged the panel to invoke relevant constitutional provisions against the heads of the absentee agencies.
“I rely on Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, as well as the relevant provisions of our Standing Rules,” Hussaini said.
“The powers of this committee are derived from these provisions. 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.
“I think this committee is being taken for granted, and by extension, Nigerians are being taken for granted. The institutional integrity of the Senate is being undermined. Mr. Chairman, drastic measures need to be taken in line with our rules,” he said.
Another member, Senator Patrick Ndubueze, Imo North, canvassed outright sanctions rather than giving the agencies a second chance.
“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,” Ndubueze said.
“To me, they don’t deserve to be given any second chance of appearance.”
Despite the boycott, the committee said it would proceed with the public hearing on Monday with expected appearances by the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, and other agencies.
The NEITI audit reports for 2021 to 2023 had raised issues bordering on revenue remittances, unaccounted deductions, and compliance gaps in the extractive sector, prompting the Senate to launch the probe.
