THE Senate Public Accounts Committee has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to four oil companies, including Seplat Energy and Aradel Energy, to appear before it or risk the full invocation of legislative powers. The ultimatum follows the companies’ failure to respond to queries raised in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 audit reports presented by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwabo, adopted the resolution after members expressed displeasure at the absence of the affected companies. Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) was the first to call for sanctions, describing a letter from Network E & P Nigeria Limited—which claimed it reports to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC)—as “disturbing and provocative.”
Senator Ningi invoked constitutional authority, stating: “The Senate and by extension, the National Assembly, is the custodian of Nigeria law that has power to invite anybody or agency for explanations on issues raised against them,” citing sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 constitution.
Supporting the call, Senator Shehu Kaka Lawan (Borno Central) demanded the invocation of constitutional powers against the management of the affected agencies. This prompted the committee chairman to issue a specific directive for the Managing Director of Network E & P Nigeria Limited to appear unfailingly on Thursday, having failed to honour two previous invitations.
Similar ultimatums were issued against the Managing Directors of All Grace Energy Limited, Aradel Energy Limited, and Seplat Energy when their absence was noted.
Dubri Oil Defends Against $3.025m Debt
In a separate development, Dubri Oil Company Limited—which did appear before the committee—defended itself against $3.025 million in royalty and gas flare debts recorded against it in the audit report.
NEITI had alleged, based on a 2025 submission by NUPRC, that Dubri Oil owes $2.378 million for gas flare and $646,605.55 for oil production.
However, Soyode Olusoji Clement, representative of Dubri Oil, faulted the query, stating the report was compiled when the company had a reconciliation issue with NUPRC. He told the committee that the reconciliation problem had since been resolved, with no debt outstanding against the company.
Clement presented documents to support his claim, which the committee said would be studied critically before issuing a clean bill of health.
The committee’s hearings, set to commence on August 3, are part of a broader investigation into Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, with the Senate summoning the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), regulators, and other major oil firms to explain issues arising from the NEITI audit reports.
The investigation will scrutinise revenues, remittances, statutory obligations, and operational activities across the extractive industry, as lawmakers intensify oversight of the country’s critical revenue-generating sector.
