An ad hoc committee looking into “illegal transactions” of crude oil by representatives of the now-defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has started hearings.
The Code of Conduct Bureau’s participation on Tuesday helped the committee, led by Mark Gbillah, launch its probe.
It will be noted that the green chamber decided to start the probe after Isiaka Ibrahim made a motion.
Ibrahim said in his motion that NNPC representatives had sold 48 million barrels of oil in China but had not transferred the proceeds to the federation account.
Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker of the House, stated in his opening comments that the committee’s purpose is to look into the entire amount of oil exported from 2014 to the present as well as any missing crude oil.
Gbajabiamila, who was represented by Ibrahim, stated that the committee must assist in exposing the actual state of affairs.
In his words, “it was rather frightening to learn of whistleblower charges that more than $2.4 billion in potential income by the government was lost through the sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria’s crude oil shipments to China.”
The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, the Chairperson of the Committee, Zainab Ahmed, and oil firms were invited to the hearing but did not show up, according to Gbillah, the chairman, in his concluding comments.
He issued a warning to all invited authorities, stating that failure to do so might result in the committee using its warrant of arrest.
He stated, “It’s terrible that the Attorney General of the Federation is not here, nor is the Minister of Finance.
