The House of Representatives joint committees have summoned the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr. Mele Kyari, to appear on May 8, 2024, for a probe on environmental degradation caused by the activities of oil companies in oil-producing communities in the country.
Chairman of the House Committee on Environment, Pondi Julius Gbabojor, issued the summon at an investigative hearing on the urgent need to investigate the service and unprecedented environmental damage within the communities.
Also summoned before the joint committee are the chief executives of some oil companies and relevant government agencies.
The House committees involved include Environment, Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Petroleum Resources (Downstream), and Climate Change.
Gbabojor emphasized the critical nature of the matter and threatened appropriate sanctions if those invited failed to appear.
Apart from NNPC Limited, the summoned oil companies include Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Total Energies, Oando Oil Limited, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, and Seplat Energy, among others.
Government agencies summoned include Nigeria Midstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, National Oil Spill Detection Response Agency, and National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcement Agency.
At the commencement of the probe on Wednesday, only four out of 35 oil companies and agencies invited appeared before the House.
While the National Environmental Standards Regulations and Enforcement Agency sent an excuse through a representative, others did not provide any reason for their absence.
