The House of Representatives has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of withholding critical records on the rehabilitation and management of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.
Chairman of the House Committee on Downstream Petroleum, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, warned that the oil company could face parliamentary sanctions if it continues to ignore requests for information needed by lawmakers to perform their constitutional oversight duties.
Ugochinyere, who spoke yesterday while receiving petroleum engineering students from the North Central Zone, said the committee had yet to receive “a single document or information” from the NNPCL despite repeated requests.
According to him, the committee had formally written the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, as well as the Executive Vice President, demanding updates on the operations of the downstream sector, particularly the state-owned refineries.
“As a Committee, we have not gotten any briefing or information. In short, we wrote the NNPCL, both the GCEO and the EVP, and not even a single document or information has been provided to update us on how the state-owned oil company’s operations in the downstream sector, especially the refineries, are going,” he said.
The lawmaker said the situation could no longer be dismissed as a communication gap between government institutions, stressing that withholding information from the legislature undermined effective parliamentary oversight.
He said the committee had deliberately opted for dialogue and cooperation rather than confrontation, but accused the NNPCL of failing to reciprocate the gesture.
“We, as a Committee, have extended a hand of partnership and working relationship, but it appears the operators feel that the people who own these assets do not deserve to know what is happening with them,” Ugochinyere said.
The warning comes amid heightened public interest in the rehabilitation and operation of Nigeria’s government-owned refineries, as concerns persist over transparency, expenditure and the actual progress of the projects.
Ugochinyere said the committee could be forced to invoke its parliamentary powers if the NNPCL continued to withhold the requested information.
“We are being left with the option of invoking the necessary parliamentary powers to get them to be accountable to the people, since they do not seem to like engagement that is harmonious and constructive,” he declared.
The committee chairman stressed that the House was not interested in an unnecessary confrontation with the national oil company, but insisted that accountability was non-negotiable where public assets and resources were concerned.
He said lawmakers would continue to demand details on the rehabilitation of the refineries, their operational status and the management of the downstream petroleum sector.
Ugochinyere maintained that Nigerians, as owners of the country’s public petroleum assets, deserved full disclosure on their management.
He added that the committee would not abandon its constitutional oversight responsibility and would continue to push for transparency and accountability in the downstream petroleum sector.
