Senate Panel Issues 72-Hour Ultimatum To CBN, NUPRC, NDDC, NEITI Over Absence From Audit Hearing
The senate committee on public accounts has given the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Niger Delta Development Commission, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and other defaulting agencies 72 hours to appear before it over their failure to honour previous invitations to respond to audit queries.
The absence of the agencies on Monday stalled the commencement of the committee’s special legislative oversight and public hearing on the NEITI oil and gas industry audit reports for 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The hearing was convened to examine the audit reports submitted by NEITI, which contain details of the operations, revenues, payments, remittances and financial obligations of stakeholders in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
More than 50 public institutions and oil and gas companies were invited to appear before the committee between August 3 and August 25.
However, officials of the CBN, NUPRC, NDDC and NEITI failed to attend Monday’s opening session and did not provide any formal explanation for their absence.
Chairman of the committee Ibrahim Dankwambo said that the hearing was organised to reduce the backlog of pending audit matters and strengthen the senate’s oversight responsibilities.
A member of the committee, Babangida Hussaini described the agencies’ absence as disrespectful to the national assembly and Nigerians while another member, Patrick Ndubueze stated that the agencies did not deserve a second opportunity after failing to honour the invitations without explanation.
