* Panel vice-chair walks out of meeting, laments national oil firm’s disregard for National Assembly
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has come under fresh scrutiny after its top management failed to honour a Senate invitation over an ongoing investigation into crude oil theft, prompting a walkout by the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Allwell Heacho Onyesoh.
The committee, which is probing crude oil theft and reviewing amendments to Nigeria’s petroleum laws to strengthen regulatory oversight, was forced to continue its deliberations on Thursday evening without the presence of the NNPCL’s leadership.
Speaking with journalists on Friday in his office, the Rivers East senator described the corporation’s repeated failure to appear before the committee as an affront to the constitutional oversight powers of the National Assembly and a dangerous precedent for public accountability.
Onyesoh said the committee had consistently invited the NNPCL to provide explanations and documentary evidence on issues affecting the nation’s oil industry but lamented that the company’s leadership had repeatedly stayed away.
“We are not contractors. We are simply asking questions. Give us facts. Give us records. We want to study them. That is our constitutional responsibility,” he said.
According to him, legislative oversight is not optional but a constitutional obligation that every government agency must respect.
“The National Assembly has the constitutional responsibility to scrutinise the activities of government agencies, especially one that manages Nigeria’s most strategic national asset. Nobody should consider himself too big to account to the representatives of the Nigerian people,” he stated.
The senator faulted the explanations repeatedly offered by the NNPCL that its senior officials were unavailable because they were on official trips abroad.
He said: “They keep writing letters saying they are travelling to Congo, travelling here and there, just to dodge simple things.
“Was the GCEO appointed to keep travelling or to work? Is Nigeria’s problem outside the country or here in Nigeria?
“How is it possible that the GCEO, his deputy, directors and the entire management are all travelling at the same time? That is not acceptable.”
He argued that the corporation’s continued absence only fuels public suspicion about its willingness to subject itself to legislative scrutiny.
“If you are serving the people of Nigeria, first and foremost, you must obey the laws of the land. The highest law-making body in the country invites you, and consistently you are too big to appear. Who told you that?” he asked.
Onyesoh also rejected claims that the NNPCL answers only to the Presidency, insisting that every public institution created by law remains accountable to the National Assembly.
He, however, absolved President Bola Tinubu of any responsibility for the corporation’s conduct, saying the president had consistently demonstrated respect for the legislature.
“I know Mr. President. That is not the president I know. He will not tell any agency to ignore the National Assembly. We all work with Mr. President. Whenever issues arise, he engages the legislature with respect,” the senator said.
He disclosed that he would formally raise the matter with the leadership of the Senate to ensure that the corporation complies with future invitations and to reinforce the oversight authority of the legislature.
“I intend to engage the leadership of the Senate on this habitual disregard for parliamentary invitations. Oversight is a constitutional responsibility, and no agency should be allowed to undermine it,” he said.
The lawmaker also linked the committee’s investigation to the plight of oil-producing communities, lamenting that despite decades of oil exploration, many host communities remain impoverished and underdeveloped.
Recalling the experience of Umuechem in Rivers State, one of Nigeria’s earliest oil-producing communities, Onyesoh said communities that have borne the environmental and social costs of oil exploration continue to lack basic infrastructure, employment opportunities and adequate participation in the petroleum industry.
He challenged the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to publish records of beneficiaries of its scholarship and capacity development programmes to demonstrate whether oil-producing communities were receiving equitable opportunities.
“I want the PTDF to make its records public. Let Nigerians know how many indigenes of Rivers State and other oil-producing communities have benefited from its scholarships and training programmes,” he said.
He pledged to continue demanding accountability from agencies in the petroleum sector while advocating greater economic benefits for host communities.
“My first loyalty is to the people of Rivers East who elected me. The wealth derived from their land must translate into meaningful development, employment and opportunities for them,” he added.
The Senate committee is reviewing proposed amendments to existing petroleum laws to strengthen regulatory enforcement, impose stiffer penalties for crude oil theft and improve governance in the sector as part of broader efforts to increase Nigeria’s crude oil production and curb persistent losses from oil theft.