Senate issues 48-hour deadline to Seplat, 3 oil companies over NEITI queries

The Senate has issued a deadline of 48 hours for four companies engaged in the business of production of oil and gas to appear before the Public Accounts Committee, failing which they will be at risk of facing legislative action.

Senate calls on NNPCL, CBN, NDDC, others on account of audit issues.

These four companies are named as Seplat Energy, Network E&P Nigeria, All Grace Energy and Aradel Energy.

They have been called before the committee due to audit issues mentioned in the reports of Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023.

This decision was taken when these four companies did not respond to the investigative hearing held before the committee on Tuesday.

The committee said the firms must honour the fresh summons within the stipulated period, warning that failure to do so would trigger further legislative action.

The hearing is part of the Senate’s ongoing efforts to examine issues raised in NEITI’s reports and seek explanations from companies operating in Nigeria’s extractive sector.

The committee’s decision signals a tougher stance on compliance as lawmakers intensify scrutiny of the country’s oil and gas industry and the management of revenues generated from the sector.