The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, promptly appeared before the joint committee on appropriations 48 hours after being summoned by the Senate.
The Senate had given a 24-hour ultimatum on Wednesday, citing previous instances where Kyari had avoided summons related to the ad-committee’s investigation into over 11 trillion naira expenditure on refinery maintenance from 2010 to 2023.
During the questioning by the senate committee on appropriations regarding a potential decrease in the pump price of petroleum due to refinery improvements, Kyari clarified his earlier statement after facing further interrogation.
He explained that while a reduction in prices might be possible, it is not the primary goal of the refineries. Kyari emphasized that maintaining the energy security target has instilled confidence that Nigeria is poised to become a net exporter of petroleum products by 2024.
The NNPCL boss affirmed that no subsidy is charged to the federation, adding that the NNPC has contributed 4.45 trillion naira as direct revenue into the federation in a combination of taxes, royalties and dividends and paid 406 billion naira as dividend to Federal Government’s account from July 2023.
According to him, Nigeria does not have credible data for PMS consumption in the country because of the absence of the instrument to measure.
The Chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee, Senator Adeola Olamilekan, had on Wednesday, directed Kyari to appear before the committee in 24 hours.
Olamilekan, who asked Kyari to appear in company of the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), warned that failure to appear undermines the legislature and sabotages the process.
They are required to present the list of all individual companies operating with OML licenses in Nigeria as well as total production output approved on a daily basis.
The lawmaker expressed concerns that some of the revenues required to drive the 2024 budget was attributed to the NNPCL, which according to him, was owned by the Federal Government and responsible to it, and by extension the three arms of government.
