Following the unresolved financial infractions amounting to N210tn in Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Senate on Thursday ordered Bayo Ojulari , the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Company to appear before it’s Public Accounts Committee.
The Distinguished Lawmakers frowned at Ojulari’s repeated absence from investigative sessions and warned that no official, regardless of position, is above accountability.
Senator Aliyu Wadada, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts who represented Nasarawa West clarified that contrary to reports suggesting theft, the sum flagged in audit reports between 2017 and 2023 was “unaccounted for,” not “stolen.”
At Thursday’s hearing, Ojulari failed to appear before the committee, citing an official engagement at an Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries meeting in Vienna, Austria. His absence prompted the committee to reject submissions from NNPCL’s Chief Financial Officer, Dapo Segun.
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) describing Ojulari’s continued refusal to honour Senate invitations, as “disturbing and unacceptable.”
Echoing similar sentiments, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) said Ojulari’s disregard for legislative summons suggested arrogance unbecoming of a public servant.
Senator warned that nobody is bigger than the country. Anyone who believes otherwise has no business being in government. The NNPCL boss must heed the invitation now before he is compelled to do so by force,”