By Haruna Salami
The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL), Engineer Bayo Ojulari’s failure to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts (SPAC) on Tuesday didn’t go down well despite excuse by the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Dapo Segun that his absence was due to sudden invitation by President Bola Tinubu.
Non appearance of the NNPCL’s GCEO for the fourth time before the committee investigating queries raised against the National Oil Company in the audit reports of 2017 to 2023, angered the entire members of the committee which made them resolved that Engineer Ojulari must appear before them unfailingly on Wednesday this week by 3:00pm prompt .
Chairman of the Committee Senator Aliyu Wadada Ahmed (Nasarawa West), had after three earlier invitations sent to Ojulari to appear before it for explanation on N210 trillion unaccounted from 2017 to 2023, extended the fourth invitation to him penultimate Thursday.
However, at its sitting on Tuesday, when the Committee’s chairman, asked the Clerk, Mohammed Sani Abdullahi whether NNPCL ‘s GCEO was around, the clerk responded that he sent a letter for explanation on his absence.
Ojulari, as contained in the letter dated 22nd July 2025 and read by the committee’s clerk, said urgent invitation he got from President Bola Tinubu at about 1:00 pm prevented him from honouring the committee’s invitation.
However, being the fourth time the NNPCL’s GCEO, failed to appear before them , members of the committee one after the other, in their separate comments, expressed reservations on genuineness or sincerity of reason given by Ojulari.
Specifically, Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra Central), in his remarks said though intervention of Presidential call reduces his anger against the NNPCL boss, but using Tinubu as an excuse for failing to appear before the committee should not be allowed to continue.
Senator Joel Thomas Onowakpo (Delta South), in his comment, accused Ojulari of not taking invitation of the committee as a priority.
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