The senate committee on public accounts has ordered the arrest of Mele Kyari, former group chief executive officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), over his repeated failure to honour invitations in an ongoing probe of the company’s finances.
The decision came as lawmakers intensified scrutiny of the company’s audit reports covering the period from 2017 to 2023, which reportedly contain unresolved financial entries and discrepancies valued at over N210 trillion.
The audit queries were forwarded to the committee by the office of the auditor-general for the federation.
The committee, chaired by Ibrahim Dankwambo, senator representing Gombe north, resolved to invoke its constitutional powers to order Kyari’s arrest after he allegedly failed to honour several invitations.
The decision followed the adoption of a motion moved by Victor Umeh, senator representing Anambra central.
Umeh said the committee could no longer tolerate delays in an investigation involving what lawmakers described as one of the largest financial accountability exercises undertaken by the national assembly.
“This matter has lingered for too long. Nigerians deserve answers. The committee cannot continue to wait indefinitely while critical questions concerning trillions of naira remain unanswered,” he said.
The motion was seconded by Onyekachi Nwebonyi, senator representing Ebonyi north.
At the session, Dankwambo excused Bayo Ojulari, the current NNPCL GCEO, who was represented by Dapo Segun, the company’s chief financial officer.
Responding to the motion, Dankwambo said, “For Mele, I agree with you. We hereby rule that anywhere Mele Kyari is, the former group GCEO, should be arrested and brought before the committee immediately.”
Tony Nwoye, senator representing Anambra north, attempted to explain Kyari’s absence, saying he had recently spoken with the former NNPCL boss.
“I spoke to Mele Kyari about a week ago. He promised that he would be here. But incidentally, I learned last night that the man is hospitalised in Germany,” Nwoye said.
Before he could conclude his remarks, Nwebonyi interrupted him with a point of order.
“You are not Kyari’s lawyer!” Nwebonyi said.
Nwoye denied acting on behalf of the former NNPCL chief.
“I am not holding brief for Mele Kyari. I am duty-bound to bring this information to the committee. The decision on whether to issue a warrant of arrest is entirely for this committee to make,” he said.
Adams Oshiomhole, senator representing Edo north, backed the motion and urged the committee to enforce its authority.
“Some people believe they are bigger than Nigeria. The law must be effective when it catches the lion, not only when it catches the rabbit,” Oshiomhole said.
The senator said the parliament risked diminishing its authority if it failed to compel compliance with its summons.
“This committee must have the courage and the will to deploy its powers and issue a warrant of arrest — not tomorrow, but today,” he said.
“Bring Mele Kyari here, dead or alive. Even if he is dead, we want to see the body, and he will account.
“These are allegations involving trillions of naira at a time Nigerians are suffering, and the country is borrowing heavily. His responsibility is to account for his actions as MD. He can’t be represented in that capacity.
“Mele Kyari can’t be represented. He is no longer the MD. Having failed repeatedly, we must invoke our powers to order the arrest of Mele Kyari.”
Seconding the motion, Nwebonyi said the committee had exhausted its patience.
“This is the ninth sitting of this committee. This committee is not a creation of the senate. It is statutory,” he said.
“I thereby second the motion, using our powers, to order the arrest of Mele Kyari. It goes without saying that the former CEO of NNPCL has no regard for this committee.
“Therefore, waiting for him will amount to what we call, in law, a wild goose chase, and I will not be part of that.”
The committee subsequently voted overwhelmingly in favour of issuing the warrant.
However, the hearing took another dramatic turn when Umar Ajiya, former chief financial officer of the NNPCL, appeared before the committee to respond to issues arising from the audited accounts.
Ajiya rejected suggestions that funds were missing from the company’s books.
“There is no money missing. The report is inaccurate,” he said.
According to him, figures that generated public controversy arose largely from accounting treatments involving different entities within the NNPCL structure and had been wrongly interpreted as evidence of missing funds.
“If money was actually missing when we superintended over the NNPC, we would never have had the courage to publish the audited accounts,” he said.
“There are good people in NNPC. Nobody has the monopoly of patriotism.”
Ajiya also disputed claims that N5.8 billion was used to register the new NNPCL.
“The money used to register NNPC is N2.9 billion, not N5.8 billion, paid to CAC and NRS. Someone must have misled the committee,” he said.
The former finance chief said all transactions were properly recorded and verifiable, adding that NNPCL had pursued transparency by publishing audited accounts and opening its books to public scrutiny.
His remarks drew a sharp response from Oshiomhole, who reminded him that the committee was examining findings contained in reports prepared by auditors and transmitted through the office of the auditor-general.
The exchange became heated after Ajiya suggested that public criticism of the corporation was often influenced by perceptions surrounding access to its resources.
At one point, Oshiomhole described officials of the corporation as “thieves”, triggering uproar in the hearing room.
Dankwambo repeatedly intervened to restore order.
The committee chairman reminded participants that the investigation was based on audit findings rather than speculation.
He also clarified that previous committee observations referred to “unexplained figures” and not outright declarations that money had been stolen.
Abdul Ningi, senator representing Bauchi central, cautioned against personal attacks and urged cooperation between former management officials and lawmakers.
Ningi said the committee’s responsibility is to establish facts and ensure accountability.
Facing mounting criticism, Ajiya apologised, saying, “Mr chairman, I apologise for my utterances, but please urge your colleagues to remain calm.”
He, however, maintained that no funds were missing from the corporation.
Bala Wunti, former chief upstream investment officer of NNPC Upstream Investment Services, told the committee that he had not received any formal invitation to appear before it.
“As of today, I have not received any formal invite from this committee. We are public officers. We are ready to be held accountable for our actions,” Wunti said.
Wunti said he only became aware of the hearing after Ningi informed him about it and requested more time to study the audit report and prepare his response.
The committee granted him two weeks.
Lawmakers also resolved to investigate why an invitation was not extended to him.
The committee subsequently stepped down consideration of his report pending further review.
