By Abbanobi-Eku Onyeka
Abuja
The Senate Public Accounts Committee on Monday issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the Central Bank of Nigeria, Niger Delta Development Commission, and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to appear before it over the 2021-2023 NEITI Audit Reports on the oil and gas sector.
The three-week public hearing, convened by the committee chaired by Senator Ibrahim Dankwabo (Gombe North), suffered a setback at its commencement as none of the three invited agencies showed up. Even the management of NEITI, which authored the reports, was absent.
Annoyed by the development, the committee rescheduled the appearance to Thursday, August 6, 2026, warning that failure to honour the summons would attract constitutional sanctions.
Failure by any of the affected agencies’ management to honour the rescheduled appearance would attract serious sanctions as provided for by relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution and Senate Standing Order,” Dankwabo declared.
Senator Babangida Hussaini (Jigawa North West) urged the committee to invoke Sections 47 and 60 of the 1999 Constitution, saying: “It is a distraction to the institution of the National Assembly for any agency to refuse to appear and answer audit queries that have been validly raised.”
Senator Patrick Ndubueze (Imo North), went further, calling for outright sanctions without a second chance: “No letter was written. No excuse was offered. To me, they don’t deserve to be given any second chance of appearance.”
The committee said it will proceed with the hearing with other agencies expected including the NSA, NMDPRA, and RMAFC.
