Senate rejects TotalEnergies’ reps in N76.8b, $81m NDDC liabilities probe

House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC) failed to sit yesterday as scheduled, raising fresh questions over the next phase of the probe.

The committee had adjourned its previous investigative hearing to August 12, with relevant government agencies and stakeholders expected to appear.

However, the scheduled sitting did not hold, leaving journalists and other stakeholders without an official explanation.

As of the time of filing this report, neither the committee nor its Chairman, Yusuf Gagdi, had issued a statement on why the hearing was not held or whether a new date had been fixed.

The development came as the investigation approached what the committee had earlier indicated could be the concluding stage of its public hearings, before members compile their findings and recommendations.

The controversy centres on the PFIPC, an organisation that allegedly operated as a Federal Government agency despite claims that it was not established by law, executive order or any other valid government instrument.

Questions arose after the purported council was included in the 2026 Appropriation Act, with about N1.3 billion allocated to it.

The House subsequently constituted a 12-member ad hoc committee, chaired by Gagdi, to investigate how the organisation found its way into the Federal Government’s budget and operated within government structures.

The probe has expanded to include allegations of forged official documents, the acquisition of office space, the use of government vehicle number plates, and attempts to obtain recognition from various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

A major development before the committee was the discovery of documents allegedly linked to several government institutions.

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, told the committee that his office acted on a letter purportedly emanating from the State House in processing a budget code for the council.

He later stated that the letter did not originate from the Presidency. “The letter that was received by the Treasury was respectfully addressed as coming from the State House. That letter was never issued by the State House,” Ogunjimi said.

The committee subsequently said it had uncovered about 29 allegedly forged official documents connected to the purported agency.

The documents were reportedly traced to institutions including the State House, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Federal Ministry of Finance.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Esther Walson-Jack, also told the panel that due diligence was not sufficiently conducted in handling documents relating to the purported agency.

Gagdi subsequently described the purported appointment letter of the alleged Director-General of the PFIPC, Adeniyi Adeyemi, as fake.

Another major issue in the investigation is the committee’s inability to publicly question Adeyemi. The committee had earlier directed the Inspector-General of Police to produce Adeyemi within 48 hours, saying his testimony was necessary to resolve outstanding questions surrounding the organisation and the documents attributed to it.

MEANWHILE, the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, under the leadership of Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, yesterday, rejected the representation of TotalEnergies EP Nigeria Limited by its officials, insisting that the Managing Director must personally appear before the committee to answer questions arising from the ongoing investigation into the company’s financial obligations.

The committee’s action came during its investigative hearing on the 2021–2023 Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) oil and Gas Sector Audit Report, where lawmakers took exception to the absence of the company’s chief executive.

The TotalEnergies delegation included officials responsible for government relations and taxation, who sought to represent the company before the committee.

But the lawmakers insisted that the level of representation was inadequate, arguing that the issues under investigation required decisions, explanations and commitments that could only be made by the company’s highest executive authority.

The committee maintained that its demand for the MD was not a mere procedural requirement but a matter of accountability.

Senator representing Borno Central, Kaka Shehu Lawan, noted that the situation was a “complete disrespect to the institution,” stressing that companies summoned by the National Assembly must comply with the rules governing investigative hearings.

They therefore directed the TotalEnergies representatives to return to the company’s management and communicate the committee’s position that the MD must appear personally.

The lawmakers said the committee had already received substantial information from various government agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), as well as other supporting reports.

They insisted that the TotalEnergies MD is therefore expected to appear with the necessary documents and respond to the information already before the committee.

The confrontation with TotalEnergies came as the EFCC disclosed that 24 oil companies investigated over unpaid Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) statutory levies had outstanding liabilities of N76.883 billion and $81.077 million.

The EFCC representative, Francis Oka-Phillips Usani, said the commission investigated 43 oil companies following the NEITI findings.