Senator Adeola Olamilekan, Chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, has given Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) a 24-hour deadline to appear before the committee for budget defense.
Olamilekan emphasized the importance of their appearance, warning that failure to comply would undermine the legislative process. They are required to provide details of individual companies operating with OML licenses in Nigeria, along with the approved daily total production output.
Expressing concerns about the attribution of revenues crucial for the 2024 budget to the NNPCL, Senator Olamilekan emphasized that the entity, being owned by the Federal Government, is accountable to all three arms of government.
Despite previous summons, the NNPCL, led by Kyari, had neglected to appear before the Senate committee investigating over N11 trillion expenditure on refineries’ turn around maintenance from 2010 to 2023. The absence of Kyari hindered the progress of the Senate panel’s inquiry into the matter.
Ada Peter