Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), and other top executives of petroleum subsidiaries faced threats from the Senate on Wednesday, including termination and imprisonment.
The executive officials of the agencies engaged in the refinery Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) projects were expressly threatened with resignation by the Senate.
The Senate stated that more than N12 trillion has been spent on TAM since 2010. The Senate further stated that, although no refineries are operating, it has records of over $592 million, €4.8 million, and £3.4 million being spent on TAM between 2010 and the present.
Following Kyari’s and other CEOs of its subsidiaries’ refusal to show up for an interactive panel discussion, Senator Isah Jibrin, the Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee looking into the various Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) projects of Refineries, issued the warnings.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and other agencies were among those invited, but their chief executive officers did not attend the session. Instead, they sent representatives.
Senator Jibrin (APC-Kogi East) pointed out that a lot of money has been spent on operational supplies for refineries that aren’t operating, although a lot has been said about the TAM of refineries.
He stated that because there were so many leaks, the Senate wanted to find answers for them all. He announced, “We will demand a refund and the termination of all chief executives involved in the Turn Around Maintenance.”
He also claimed that they had been requesting documentation from the oil corporations for weeks, but they have not received it, which has raised suspicions.
“We sent them an invitation more than two weeks ago requesting for documents and the documents have not been released after two weeks. So, we want the chief executives to be present.
“More worrisome is between 2010 and 2020, the sum of N4.8 trillion was said to have been spent as operational expenses.
“How do you incur operational expenses that have to do with the purchase of raw materials and similar expenses on moribund factories? How do we come about operational expenses? We need to know.
“These are issues that Nigerians want to know; they want solutions to all these leakages. We know they are leakages. Whether you accept it or not they are leakages and they are all forms of compromise within your various establishments.
“We know and we will not hesitate to escalate it to the highest possible level, including the possibility of refund and outright dismissal of some of the heads of some of these agencies and possibly go to jail,” he said.
According to Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, the management of NNPCL and other agencies that came to speak on behalf of their bosses had to be sent back to advise their Chief Executives that they ought to show up in person rather than through agents.
Senator Sumaila Kawu said that they know the modus operandi of the Civil Service, adding, “We are not in the Senate for personal functions. We are representing the entire legislature. You are in the civil service, we know how you are operating.
“We are in a very serious business. At the end, you will be at the receiving end. Nigerians are not satisfied with what you are doing and you will be at the receiving end.
“We are independent. We can go to any length to defend our people. It is the constitution that established you. So, we must agree on how to operate.
“We will suspend this interaction until when you are ready. We have 100 ways through which we can achieve our legislative work. We just wanted to give you a fair hearing and you must respect the Constitution.”
The panel will only deal with heads or chief executives, not persons who have been dispatched, Senator Danjuma Goje remarked in response to his question about whether or not they are the leaders of the agencies.
“We will have to agree on new dates for the submission of the documents both hard copies and soft copies and a date for a meeting where the Chief Executive must appear,” he said.
Nonetheless, they were given till Tuesday to turn in the paperwork before the chief executive meeting.
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