A Joint Committee of the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, 24 April summoned 35 oil companies, as well as the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, for questioning over environmental degradation caused by the activities of oil companies across oil-producing communities in Nigeria. The oil firms and the NNPCL boss are to appear before the committee on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. The summons was handed down by the Chairman of the House Committee on Environment, Pondi Gbabojor, at an investigative hearing in Abuja on the activities of oil companies.
The committee also summoned relevant government agencies and heads of oil companies. The Committees on Environment, Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and Climate Change make up the joint committee. The committee chairman threatened sanctions should invited persons fail to appear before the committee. The invited oil companies include Chevron Nigeria Limited, Total Energies, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Seplat Energy, Oando Oil Limited and Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited. The Federal Government agencies invited for questioning are the Nigeria Midstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency and the National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcement Agency. At the commencement of the investigation on Wednesday, only four out of the 35 oil companies and agencies invited for the probe attended.
