Group managing director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Bayo Ojulari, has again shunned the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, fuelling tensions between the legislature and the state oil firm.
Ojulari was scheduled to appear before the committee yesterday but failed to show up. Instead, the company’s chief financial officer, Dapo Segun, appeared in his stead and informed lawmakers that the GMD was out of the country attending an OPEC session as part of Nigeria’s delegation.
Segun told the committee that Ojulari had left the country on Tuesday and is expected back over the weekend. He conveyed the GMD’s regrets and reiterated that the absence was due to official national duty.
However, senators were not placated.
“It’s crystal clear that the GMD has taken this committee for granted,” said Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central). “From inception, the GMD has never appeared before this committee. I find it really disturbing. His primary obligation is to the Nigerian legislature, not the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.”
Senator Adams Oshiomhole (Edo North) was even more direct. “Anybody who is too big to obey the Nigerian constitution should relocate,” he said.
Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan (Borno Central) echoed the sentiment, describing Ojulari’s repeated absence as “very insulting” and warning, “We cannot take this kind of thing forward.”
The committee chairman, Senator Aliyu Wadada, emphasised that the matter was not personal.
“There is nothing personal between this committee and anybody. Every other person in the NNPC is my friend, but I am doing my job,” Wadada stated.
Following the heated session, the committee resolved to shift the hearing to Tuesday, July 15, and insisted that Ojulari must appear in person.
The panel had previously threatened to issue an arrest warrant against the NNPC chief over his failure to honour past invitations. Sources say that option remains on the table if the GMD is absent again next week.
