Senate Gives Seplat, Three Oil Firms 48 Hours to Answer NEITI Queries
The Senate Public Accounts Committee has given Seplat Energy Plc and three other oil companies 48 hours to appear before it and respond to queries contained in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 audit reports of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, issued the ultimatum on Tuesday following concerns over the companies’ repeated failure to honour its invitations.
The affected companies are Network E&P Nigeria Limited, All Grace Energy Limited, Aradel Energy Limited and Seplat Energy.
The committee warned that failure to appear within the stipulated period could result in the invocation of the full legislative powers of the National Assembly.
The development followed a call by Senator Abdul Ningi for sanctions against the companies, particularly Network E&P Nigeria Limited, whose response to the committee was described by the senator as “disturbing and provocative.”
Network E&P had reportedly informed the committee that it was accountable to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission rather than the Senate panel.
Ningi, however, argued that the National Assembly was constitutionally empowered to summon individuals, companies and government agencies to provide explanations on matters under investigation.
“Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution empower the National Assembly to invite anybody or agency for explanations on issues raised against them,” he said.
Supporting the call for sanctions, Senator Shehu Kaka Lawan, representing Borno Central, urged the committee to exercise its constitutional powers against companies that failed to honour its invitations.
Responding, Dankwambo directed the Managing Director of Network E&P Nigeria Limited to appear before the committee within 48 hours.
“Having failed to honour the invitation of this committee two consecutive times, the Managing Director of Network E&P Nigeria Limited should appear before us unfailingly on Thursday this week or risk full invocation of legislative powers against him,” the chairman warned.
The committee subsequently issued similar directives to the managing directors of All Grace Energy Limited, Aradel Energy Limited and Seplat Energy after noting their absence from the proceedings.
The committee’s action followed its ongoing consideration of audit queries contained in NEITI reports on the management of Nigeria’s oil and gas revenues and companies’ compliance with their financial obligations to the Federal Government.
Dubri disputes $3.025m royalty, gas flare debt
Meanwhile, Dubri Oil Company Limited appeared before the committee and disputed a $3.025m royalty and gas flare debt attributed to the company in the NEITI report.
According to the report, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission informed NEITI in 2025 that Dubri Oil owed the Federal Government $3.025m.
The amount comprised $2.378m in alleged gas flare debt and $646,605.55 in oil production-related liabilities.
However, a representative of the company, Soyode Clement, rejected the query, explaining that the liability arose from a reconciliation discrepancy between Dubri Oil and the NUPRC when the report was compiled.
Clement told the committee that the reconciliation issue had subsequently been resolved and that the company had no outstanding debt to the Federal Government.
He also submitted documents to support the company’s position.
The committee said it would scrutinise the documents before deciding whether to clear Dubri Oil of the liability contained in the NEITI report.
The proceedings form part of the Senate’s broader scrutiny of audit queries in the oil and gas sector, particularly concerns over revenue leakages and the failure of companies and government agencies to adequately account for funds due to the Federal Government.
