Senate Issues 48-Hour Ultimatum to Seplat and Three Oil Firms Over NEITI Audit Queries

The Senate Public Accounts Committee has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Seplat Energy and three other oil companies to appear before it to address financial queries raised in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 audit reports of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

Chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, the committee issued the directive following repeated failures by the firms to honour legislative summons.

The affected firms include Network E&P Nigeria Limited, All Grace Energy Limited, Aradel Energy Limited, and Seplat Energy.

The committee threatened to invoke full constitutional powers if the executive leadership of the affected companies fails to appear. Lawmakers pushed for sanctions after Network E&P Nigeria Limited sent a letter claiming it was accountable to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission rather than the Senate panel a claim rejected by lawmakers who cited constitutional oversight powers under Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution.

Meanwhile, Dubri Oil Company Limited appeared before the committee to contest a $3.025 million debt attributed to it in the NEITI report regarding gas flaring and oil production royalties. Representatives presented documentation claiming the issue stemmed from a past reconciliation discrepancy with the regulatory commission that has since been resolved. The committee stated it would review the submitted documents before taking a final stance.