Senate Summons NNPCL Boss Bayo Ojulari, Threatens Arrest Over Non-Compliance

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has summoned the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, to appear on July 10, threatening to issue an arrest warrant for non-compliance.

This directive followed the failure of NNPCL officials to attend the committee’s scheduled session in Abuja, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday.

Senator Ahmed Wadada, who chairs the committee, issued the ultimatum during a brief meeting after NNPCL representatives failed to appear as required.

The officials were expected to address queries concerning an alleged ₦210 trillion in unaccounted funds between 2017 and 2023, as outlined in an audit report.

Instead of appearing, NNPCL submitted a letter—delivered by Adedapo Segun on behalf of the GCEO—requesting a two-month extension to prepare comprehensive responses. Committee Clerk Sani Abdullahi read the correspondence during the session.

Wadada rejected the request outright and criticised the absence of NNPCL officials as showing contempt for the committee’s authority.

“We expected representatives from the NNPCL to be before us today to answer questions raised last week regarding issues in the audit reports before us.

Their absence is unacceptable. As a result, this committee is giving the relevant officials from NNPCL ten working days from today, which ends on July 10.

This committee was not expecting any documents from NNPCL today, but rather answers to the eleven questions raised last week.

Therefore, the GCEO of NNPCL must appear before us on July 10 with the expected responses.”

The chairman warned that failure to comply would compel the committee to exercise its full constitutional authority to ensure the GCEO’s appearance.

Wadada also announced the potential adoption of audit queries against other non-compliant agencies, including the FCT High Court and the Federal Ministries of Solid Minerals, Steel Development, and Finance, warning of consequences if they fail to appear next Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the Senate issued a seven-day ultimatum to NNPCL to explain financial irregularities exceeding ₦210 trillion in audited statements covering 2017 to 2023.

This directive emerged from a heated session of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, during which Chief Financial Officer Dapo Segun and other senior executives were present.

Legislators expressed outrage over what they described as “mind-boggling irregularities” in the company’s records, particularly figures listed under accrued expenses and receivables, as highlighted in the audit report.