The Senate Committee on Public Accounts, on Wednesday, ordered the arrest
of the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, for failing to appear before it over
allegations of N210tn unaccounted funds between 2017 and 2023.
The directive followed Kyari’s repeated absence from an investigative hearing
probing queries raised by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation
over the company’s financial records during the period under review.
However, former Chief Financial Officer of the NNPCL, Umar Ajiya Isa,
challenged the allegations before the committee, insisting that no funds were
missing and describing the N210tn figure as misleading when compared with
the company’s actual earnings within the period.
The arrest warrant was issued after lawmakers ruled against further delay in the
investigation.
During the sitting, Saliu Mustapha (Kwara Central) and Tony Nwoye (Anambra
North) appealed for caution, urging the committee to grant Kyari another
opportunity to appear, noting that he was reportedly ill and receiving treatment
in Germany.
But their plea was strongly opposed by other members of the committee, who
insisted that the investigation must proceed without further delay and demanded
the issuance of a warrant of arrest.
Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) argued that verbal excuses should not be accepted
without documented proof of illness, a position later supported by Victor Umeh
(Anambra Central), who formally moved the motion for Kyari’s arrest.
Seconding the motion, the Deputy Chairman of the committee, Peter
Nwaebonyi (Ebonyi North), warned that further delay would undermine the
committee’s work.
He said, “This is the ninth time this committee is meeting on the 19 queries
raised against NNPCL by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation,
three of which were chaired by me.
“Mr Chairman, the time to issue a warrant of arrest against Mele Kyari is now
because the committee must conclude its assignment and report back to the
Senate.”
Former Edo State Governor and senator representing Edo North, Adams
Oshiomhole, also argued that the Senate risked diminishing its own authority if
it failed to enforce compliance with its summons.
“Some people believe they are bigger than Nigeria. The law must be effective
when it catches the lion, not only when it catches the rabbit,” he said.
After a voice vote, the chairman of the committee, Ibrahim Dankwambo
(Gombe North), ruled that Kyari should be arrested and produced before the
panel.“Anywhere Mele Kyari is, he should be arrested and brought before this
committee,” he declared.
At the centre of the controversy is the alleged N210tn said to be unaccounted
for within the NNPC Limited accounts.
But Isa rejected the claim, insisting that it was mathematically inconsistent with
the company’s financial records.
He said, “To be clear, if money had gone missing at NNPC during our tenure,
we would not have had the courage to publish audited accounts.
“For over 40 years, those accounts were either not prepared, not made public, or
not even shared with the Auditor-General.
“N210tn is an enormous sum. NNPC’s total revenue in the period under review
was about N54.5tn, even before deducting production costs. It’s impossible for
N210n to be missing or unaccounted for.”
He also dismissed claims that N5.8bn was spent on registering NNPC Limited,
describing the allegation as inaccurate and damaging, and urged the committee
to verify the figures with relevant agencies.