By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
The Senate Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has given Seplat Energy Plc, Network E&P Nigeria Limited, All Grace Energy Limited and Aradel Energy Limited 48 hours to appear before it and explain queries raised against them in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 audit reports of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, issued the ultimatum on Tuesday after expressing displeasure over the failure of the affected companies to honour its invitations.
It warned that failure to appear within the stipulated period would lead to the invocation of the constitutional powers of the National Assembly.
The committee’s action followed a demand by Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) that sanctions be imposed on companies that continued to disregard its summons.
Ningi particularly criticised a letter from Network E&P Nigeria Limited in which the company reportedly stated that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) was the regulatory body responsible for its operations.
Describing the position as “disturbing and provocative,” Ningi said the National Assembly was constitutionally empowered to summon any person, organisation or government agency to provide explanations on issues under investigation.
He cited Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution as the legal basis for the Senate’s investigative powers.
“The Senate and, by extension, the National Assembly, is the custodian of Nigeria’s law and has the power to invite anybody or agency for explanations on issues raised against them,” he said.
Supporting the call for sanctions, Senator Shehu Kaka Lawan (Borno Central) urged the committee to invoke its constitutional powers against the managements of the companies that had failed to respond to its invitations.
Dankwambo subsequently directed the Managing Director of Network E&P Nigeria Limited to appear before the committee on Thursday.
“Having failed to honour the invitation of this committee two consecutive times, the Managing Director of Network E&P Nigeria Limited should appear before us unfailingly on Thursday this week or risk full invocation of legislative powers against him,” he warned.
The committee also issued similar 48-hour ultimatums to the Managing Directors of Seplat Energy, All Grace Energy Limited and Aradel Energy Limited after their absence was noted during the proceedings.
The companies are expected to respond to queries arising from NEITI’s audit reports covering their activities and financial obligations in the oil and gas sector.
Meanwhile, Dubri Oil Company Limited, which appeared before the committee, disputed a $3.025 million debt attributed to it in the NEITI report.
According to the report, information supplied by NUPRC in 2025 showed that Dubri Oil had outstanding obligations of $3.025 million, comprising $2.378 million in gas flare-related debt and $646,605.55 in oil production royalties.
However, the representative of Dubri Oil, Soyode Olusoji Clement, rejected the figures, explaining that the liability arose from a reconciliation dispute between the company and NUPRC.
Clement told the committee that the reconciliation had since been concluded and that Dubri Oil no longer had any outstanding debt to NUPRC.
He also submitted documents to substantiate the company’s position.
The committee said it would scrutinise the documents before deciding whether to clear Dubri Oil of the liabilities contained in the NEITI report.
The development is part of the Senate committee’s ongoing scrutiny of financial obligations, revenue remittances and other discrepancies identified in NEITI’s audit reports on Nigeria’s extractive industries.
