By Henry Umoru, Abuja
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts’ planned investigation into the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Oil and Gas Industry Audit Reports for 2021, 2022 and 2023 suffered a setback on Monday after key government agencies failed to appear before the committee.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and officials of NEITI, which produced the audit reports, were absent from the investigative hearing.
The hearing, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, is part of a three-week special legislative oversight exercise aimed at examining issues arising from the NEITI reports, including revenues, remittances, financial obligations and operational activities in Nigeria’s extractive sector.
The committee had invited the affected agencies and published notices in national newspapers ahead of the hearing scheduled for Monday at 3pm.
