• Ningi: National Assembly not Tinubu’s appendage, summons must be respected
• Bipartisan lawmakers back campaign against opaque expenditure, unimplemented budgets

Senator Abdul Ningi yesterday declared that the National Assembly was not an appendage of the Executive, warning government agencies and corporate organisations against undermining the legislature’s constitutional powers to demand accountability.

Ningi, representing Bauchi Central and a member of the Senate Public Accounts Committee, spoke against the backdrop of the committee’s decision to give Seplat Energy Plc, Network E&P Nigeria Limited, All Grace Energy Limited, and Aradel Energy Limited 48 hours to appear before it over queries contained in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 audit reports of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

The committee, chaired by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, threatened to invoke its legislative powers against the companies if their Managing Directors failed to appear within the stipulated period.

Ningi’s warning followed the absence of the Managing Director of Seplat Energy from the proceedings, with company representatives explaining that he was unavoidably engaged in another official assignment.

The senator, however, said such explanations could not diminish the authority of the legislature or its constitutional mandate to conduct oversight.

“It is very important for all of us to understand the role of this body. The National Assembly, as an institution, has a constitutional responsibility to exercise oversight over the Executive, which is headed by the President and Commander-in-Chief.

“I want this to be placed on record: this Parliament is not an appendage of the Executive.”

Ningi said the Constitution had vested the National Assembly with clearly defined oversight powers which must be respected by government agencies, officials and private organisations operating within the country.

The senator expressed concern over what he described as a growing tendency by some organisations and officials to disregard legislative invitations.

“We do not understand why some people are no longer taking the legislature seriously. The powers of the National Assembly are constitutionally guaranteed and should not be undermined.”

He stressed that legislative invitations were part of the accountability mechanisms embedded in Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.

Ningi’s position was reinforced during the proceedings when Network E&P Nigeria Limited reportedly informed the committee that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) was the regulatory body to which it was accountable.

The senator described the position as disturbing and provocative, insisting that regulatory oversight by NUPRC did not exempt the company from answering questions from the National Assembly.

He cited Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution as empowering the National Assembly to summon individuals, organisations and agencies to provide explanations on matters within its oversight jurisdiction.

Senator Shehu Kaka Lawan, representing Borno Central, backed Ningi and called for the committee to invoke its constitutional powers against companies that repeatedly failed to honour its invitations.

Dankwambo subsequently directed the Managing Director of Network E&P to appear before the committee on Thursday.

The same 48-hour ultimatums were issued to the Managing Directors of Seplat Energy, All Grace Energy and Aradel Energy.
Dubri Oil Disputes $3.025m Liability

While the four companies were ordered to appear, Dubri Oil Company Limited, which honoured the committee’s invitation, rejected a $3.025 million royalty and gas-flare liability attributed to it in the NEITI audit report.

According to the report, information supplied by NUPRC in 2025 indicated that Dubri Oil owed $3.025 million, comprising $2.378 million in gas-flare obligations and $646,605.55 relating to oil production.

However, Dubri Oil’s representative, Soyode Olusoji Clement, disputed the figures, explaining that the liability resulted from a reconciliation issue between the company and NUPRC when the information was compiled.

He told the committee that the reconciliation had since been concluded and that no outstanding debt remained against the company.

Clement subsequently submitted documents to the committee to support the company’s position.

The committee said it would critically examine the documents before determining whether Dubri Oil should be cleared of the liabilities contained in the NEITI report.

The proceedings underscored a broader struggle over legislative oversight and accountability, with Ningi’s declaration that the National Assembly is “not an appendage of the Executive” setting the tone for the committee’s increasingly assertive posture towards oil companies and other entities appearing before it.

MEANWHILE, irked by recent controversies involving fake agencies of government, budget padding and the outcome of the Catholic Bishops visit to President Bola Tinubu, some lawmakers have stated categorically that while they were not opposed to State Police, economic reforms or necessary public expenditure, they were, however, opposed to unconstitutional procedures, legislative shortcuts, unimplemented budgets, opaque expenditure and the continuing failure to protect the Nigerian people.

The concerned lawmakers stated in a recent statement that they were demanding an Emergency National Assembly Session over alleged N8.83tr off-budget spending, budget failures and worsening insecurity.

They insisted that the emergency session must address the issue of under-implementation of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 Appropriation Acts; the constitutional controversy surrounding the State Police Constitutional Alteration Bill; allegations of off-budget expenditure.

This group of bipartisan lawmakers in the House of Representatives under the aegis of Save Nigeria Group is demanding that the National Assembly should address as a matter of urgency the non-release of capital funds to security agencies, the deteriorating security situation, and measures required to restore public confidence in the rule of law and democratic governance.

The lawmakers lamented that Nigeria’s democracy is nose-diving and that silence in the face of repeated constitutional violations and institutional failures could no longer be justified.

They pointed out that the country is confronting an alarming disregard for the rule of law, chronic budget under-implementation, allegations of off-budget expenditure, worsening economic hardship and an unacceptable security situation.

The concerned lawmakers emphasised that democracy cannot survive where constitutional procedures are treated as inconveniences and legal safeguards are replaced by political improvisation.