By Nworisa Michael
The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has given the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL) until Monday, December 15, 2025, to explain alleged revenue leakages within the company. The decision came after the NNPCL management repeatedly failed to attend scheduled hearings.
Chairman of the committee, Bamidele Salam, announced the ruling during a session in Abuja on Monday. The management of NNPCL had cited a late Friday night letter from the presidency, requesting a 60-day extension due to a meeting with the President, as the reason for their absence. However, Salam emphasized that the committee had invited the company more than seven times, and each time, NNPCL declined to appear, offering similar excuses.
Salam described the company’s repeated failure to attend hearings as unacceptable, noting that the Auditor-General for the Federation had identified significant revenue leakages in the trillions of naira that should have been remitted to the government.
“The only way we will recognize this as a new NNPCL is to see a real shift in corporate management practices and accountability,” Salam stated. “NNPCL cannot continue in this apparent contempt of parliament. We are giving them until next Monday, December 15, for a fresh appearance.”
Committee members stressed the importance of submitting all outstanding documents before the new date to ensure proper oversight.
Rep. Hassan Bappa (PDP-Taraba) reinforced that NNPCL is not above parliamentary oversight, calling their repeated defiance a serious issue. Supporting him, Rep. Kafilat Ogbara (APC-Lagos) argued that the committee should compel NNPCL to appear within the week, a view echoed by Deputy Chairman Rep. Jeremiah Umaru (APC-Nasarawa).
Earlier, Umar Farooq, NNPCL Liaison Officer to the National Assembly, clarified that the absence was not intentional. He explained that management had been prepared to attend but was delayed by the presidential directive. Farooq assured the committee that the “new NNPCL” is now ready to cooperate fully with parliamentary oversight for the benefit of Nigerians.