“Some People Think They Are Bigger Than Nigeria” — Oshiomhole Slams Mele Kyari

In a highly charged session of the Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC), former Edo State Governor and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, launched a blistering attack on the former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari.

Oshiomhole strongly rebuked Kyari and other high-ranking officials of the state-owned oil firm who have repeatedly avoided parliamentary summons, accusing them of behaving as though they are above the law and the Nigerian state itself.

Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, asserted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) thinks it is bigger than the system.

Refusing to accept explanations that Kyari could not attend because he was receiving medical treatment in Germany, Oshiomhole urged his colleagues to assert the full constitutional authority of the National Assembly. Politics

“There are some people who, because of the way in which the country and certain institutions have been run, see themselves as bigger than Nigeria,” Oshiomhole declared passionately.

He said, “Even the president of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, does not delegate his finance officer to present annual budget which is prepared by financial gurus because we have three independent arms of government.

“So if Tinubu will leave the Villa to address the Senate President and Chairman of the legislative arm, senators, and the House of Representatives; I have issues why NNPC thinks it is too big, they are bedridden, they have medical certificates, may they not be bedridden for too long so that the country can move on.

“I think the NNPCL is forgetting that it is an agency of government, while we are representatives of the people.

“You cannot behave as if you’re above the representatives of the people. I refuse to believe that the NNPCL is bigger than the system.”

“The law is effective when it catches a lion, not when you apprehend a rat or a rabbit. This committee must have the courage, the will, to deploy its powers as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution and issue a warrant—not tomorrow, today.”

Oshiomhole emphasized that the Senate has a duty to demand transparency, especially at a time when the country is heavily burdened by external borrowing. Politics

The atmosphere in the hearing room grew even more chaotic during a heated exchange between Oshiomhole and former NNPCL Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajiya, who appeared to defend the corporation’s audited accounts.

The N210 Trillion audit queries, forwarded by the Auditor-General of the Federation, span NNPCL’s transactions from 2017 to 2023.

Ajiya dismissed the missing funds allegations as mathematically impossible, stating, “The total revenue earned in the period under review was N54.5 trillion. So how can N210 trillion be missing?”

Tension spiked when Ajiya remarked that many prominent Nigerians were desperate to secure jobs for their children at the NNPCL.  An infuriated Oshiomhole fired back: “I am elected, not to be lectured about morality. You are invited to respond to an auditor’s report… NNPC has no reputation. Your reputation is for fraud.”