The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has issued a warrant of arrest on former Group Chief Executive Officer, GCEO, of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, over his alleged repeated refusal to honour the committee’s summons.
The committee had invited leadership of NNPCL to appear before it to respond to audit queries involving a cumulative sum of ₦210 trillion spanning 2017 to 2023.
According to reports, the audit queries emanated from the audit report of the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation on expenditures of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) from 2017 to 2023.
The Public Accounts committee had said that the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, was expected to lead the delegation. Other officials listed to appear included Kyari, former Chief Financial Officer Umar Ajia, Bala Wunti as well as the company’s external auditors. However, at the resumed hearing of the committee yesterday, Kyari was absent, a development that infuriated the lawmakers.
Sen. Victor Umeh, who moved the Motion to issue warrant of arrest, said Kyari’s attitude showed that he was not taking the committee seriously.
He said, “Kyari should be here; we cannot wait for him to appear before us at his convenience. It is a national emergency that Mele Kyari should cut short his trip anywhere in the world and return home. He should come before this committee to answer the questions put by the Auditor-General for the federation against NNPCL.
“So, I will say that this committee should issue a warrant of arrest against Kyari. We are talking about trillions of naira. The country is not faring well. If we have access to these funds, we will not be in this financial challenge. He must come and explain what has happened to these funds. So, I move that he should be issued a warrant of arrest”.
However, Sen. Tony Nwoye said that Kyari had spoken to him, assuring him that he would appear at the resumed hearing of the committee. He added that the current information available to him indicated that Kyari was currently hospitalized at a hospital in Germany.
Sen. Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, who attempted to shut down Nwoye from further making remarks, said that his colleague, Nwoye, was not the lawyer representing Kyari and as such, had no right to defend his absence. He noted that Kyari had ignored summons by the committee for nine consecutive times.
Nwaebonyi consequently seconded Umeh’s Motion, saying that a warrant of arrest should be issued on the former NNPCL GCEO. Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Ibrahim.Ɗankwambo, consequently affirmed the Motion, following a unanimous voice vote by members of the committee on the Motion.
