‘Even Tinubu not bigger than Senate’ — Lawmakers order NNPCL CEO to appear over N210trn audit

The Senate has declared that no public office holder — not even President Bola Tinubu — is bigger than the National Assembly.

This comes as the upper legislative chamber issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), to personally appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts or face sanctions.

Ojulari had failed to honour the committee’s invitation for the fourth consecutive time on Tuesday, prompting outrage among lawmakers.

Instead, he sent a senior official, Adedapo Segun, to represent him — an appearance the committee outrightly rejected.

Fuming over the development, Senator Aliyu Wadada, chairman of the committee, rebuked Ojulari for sending an unsigned letter and attempting to communicate through a proxy.

“How can the GMD be talking through you in writing? The communication must come to us respectfully,” Wadada said.

“No GMD is bigger than the National Assembly. Even the President is not bigger than the National Assembly. That is why he always writes us.”

He warned that Ojulari must appear on Wednesday by 3:00pm or face the consequences.

Other committee members echoed similar frustration, accusing the NNPCL of undermining parliamentary authority.

According to Senator Joel Onowakpo-Thomas, the NNPC thinks it is bigger than the country.

“This is erroneous for the NNPCL to shun our invitation for the fourth time. We need to invoke our orders,” he said.

Senator Iya Abbas (Adamawa Central) added that the senate will make sure they get to the root of the audit.

‘We will make life difficult for NNPC. We will expose what should be exposed,” Abbas said.

“We won’t afford him the luxury of telling us when to come. If he fails to come tomorrow, we will invoke our orders.”

Ojulari is being summoned to explain an alleged N210 trillion unaccounted for by NNPCL between 2017 and 2023, as flagged in audit reports from the office of the auditor-general of the federation.

At a previous session, Ojulari — through a letter signed by Segun — had appealed for two months to provide detailed responses to the queries. But the committee rejected the request.

“The committee had repeatedly made it clear that it was not expecting any document from NNPCL, but answers to the eleven questions raised in the audit report,” Wadada insisted.