Television Nigerian

Although the Senate’s decision to disregard its committee’s recommendation to arrest the immediate Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, might be procedurally correct, it is likely to send the wrong signal on transparency and accountability in the handling of public funds. The Senate Committee on Public Accounts ordered the arrest of Kyari, who did not honour several invitations to appear before the committee to explain why and how N210 trillion was not accounted for in the company’s audit report covering 2017 to 2023. But the Senate said the committee lacked the power to order that. But it is important in the interests of the public and for the integrity of the legislature that the matter is not closed at that level.

Senator Adams Oshiomhole who has spoken publicly in support of the action of the committee was right to remind Nigerians that asking for accountability over public funds was not an act of hostility to the government. “Indeed accountability, transparency and probity are the very essence of democratic governance. Democracies thrive not by avoiding hard questions, but by having institutions with the courage and independence to ask them.

The NNPCL controversy was not generated by partisan politics or media speculation. It was based on reports from the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation from 2017 to 2023 when the national oil company was headed by Mele Kyari. The reports reportedly contained 19 audit queries on transactions and accounting entries worth more than N210 trillion. The figures were themselves derived from NNPCL’s own audited financial statements prepared by internationally recognised auditors.

These observations that the funds were not accounted for were faced by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts and embarked on what should be considered a routine constitutional exercise. It called on the corporation to explain itself. The NNPCL said accrued expenses stood at N103 trillion while receivables stood at N107 trillion.

The missing funds are cash calls requested by the joint venture (JV) partners and settlements to the JVs, the company’s chief financial officer, Adedapo Segun, said. He spoke at a session of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, chaired by Aliyu Wadada, after the committee raised alarm over the money. According to Segun: “The N103 trillion and N107 trillion are joint venture cash calls that have been requested by the JV operators and JV cash call payments made by NNPCL and are yet to be reconciled because governance procedures were not done at that time…That is why you see the description showing the two items would be washed out because it is two sides of the same transaction which is the cash calls by JV partners and the settlement by NNPCL.”

But unhappy with the written explanations, the committee requested oral testimony from current and former officials. Nor was such insistence overdone or vindictive. No questioning, no overseeing. Nobody has alleged, let alone proven, that N210 trillion was stolen. No court has ever convicted Kyari of any wrong-doing. There has never been a forensic audit that has found any public funds missing. But these realities do not lessen the responsibility to explain. The fact is, innocence is best proved by openness and not by silence.

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So it is disturbing that after the committee reportedly sat nine times without Kyari’s appearance and finally ordered his arrest to force his attendance, the Senate itself suddenly reversed course. Just 48 hours later, the upper chamber publicly dissociated itself from the committee, rebuked Oshiomhole and stopped the arrest process. Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the committee had no power to issue a warrant and warned against circumventing due process.
It is essential to have due process. No democratic institution should be above the law. But procedural concerns should not provide a convenient refuge for institutional retreat. The issue is not whether the committee chose the right legal mechanism; the issue is whether the Senate itself has the will to pursue a case concerning the management of resources on which the lives and welfare of millions of Nigerians depend, or whether the Senate is painting a picture of itself as not willing to seek clarification in huge public spending shrouded in haze. Or is the Senate satisfied with NNPCL’s meager explanation on the money?

The reversal raises disturbing questions. Why would the Senate suddenly be reluctant to pursue an investigation that came from the constitutional audit reports? Why does a matter of such monumental public importance get caught up in internal legislative politics? Why should the National Assembly, empowered by the Constitution to undertake the sacred task of oversight, appear to back down before the resistance of those it is constitutionally empowered to scrutinise?

Unfortunately that impression is being made. It shows inconsistency in the time of need for firmness. It raises fears that politics is winning out over accountability. Such perceptions are dangerous in a country where public confidence in institutions has already been badly eroded.

The Senate must realize that its credibility is on trial just as much as that of the NNPCL. Nigerians deserve answers not confusions.” The constitutional scheme is clear. Government agencies and public corporations are required to give accounts to the Auditor-General who reports to the National Assembly. Reviewing legislation is not optional; it is a constitutional imperative. Where auditors find explanations unsatisfactory, it is the duty of parliament to seek clarification.

Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana has now approached the Federal High Court demanding that the Senate should release the report on the alleged discrepancies. His move follows growing public pressure for transparency. In the case of public resources, secrecy breeds suspicion; openness breeds trust.

Kyari ought to face the Senate and explain the issues that came out of the audit observations. If the Senate has to rely on other mechanisms to assure his appearance, it should. What it must not do is to frustrate or abandon the inquiry. You can’t shit on nine invitations and there not be consequences. No public officer, present or past, should be allowed to place himself above the institutions created by the Constitution.

This isn’t about personalities. It is bigger than Kyari, bigger than Oshiomhole and bigger than the Tinubu’s administration. It is about the willingness of Nigeria’s democratic institutions to call those in power to account. When a legislature shirks its responsibility to oversee, it undermines democracy itself.

Transparency and responsible management of public resources continue to be essential for national development. We can not allow the Senate to be an obstacle to those ideals. It must not allow the constitutional oversight to be a mockery. It will not blink.

The question should be explored. The questions are to be solved. And if there is an eventual finding of wrongdoing, those responsible must be held accountable to the consequences of the law. Any other course would simply reinforce the cynical view that in Nigeria, accountability is only sought assiduously until it begins to make powerful interests uncomfortable. That would be a tragedy not only for the Senate, but for democracy itself.