Nigerian lawmakers subject arrest warrant on Cardoso, Accountant Normal, 17 oil companies CEOs

The Home of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions has issued a warrant of arrest on the Central Financial institution Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, for refusing to look earlier than it to reply questions on the oil sector.

The committee additionally ordered the arrest of the Accountant Normal of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, and 17 others.

Among the many 17 to be arrested are the heads of Nationwide Petroleum Funding Administration Providers (NAPIMS), Ethiop Japanese Exploration and Manufacturing Firm Ltd, and Western Africa Exploration and Manufacturing.

Others are heads of Alteo Japanese E&P Co. Ltd., First Exploration & Manufacturing Ltd., The Md, First E&P Oml 8385 Jv, Heirs Holdings Oil and Mobil Producing Nigeria Limitless (Mpnu).

Additionally listed are Shell Petroleum Improvement Firm (SPDC), Whole Exploration & Producing Nig (TEPN), Nigeria Agip Oil Firm (NAOC), Pan Ocean Oil Nig, Ltd, Newcross E&P Ltd and Frontier Oil Ltd.

Movement

The choice was taken on Tuesday in the course of the sitting of the committee whereas contemplating a petition filed by one Fidelis Uzowanem.

The Chairman of the Committee, Michael Etaba (APC, Cross River), stated Mr Cardoso and others have refused to honour its invites.

Subsequently, a member of the committee, Fred Agbedi (PDP, Bayelsa), moved the movement to subject the warrant of arrest.

Mr Agbedi stated the involved individuals needs to be made to look earlier than the committee on 14 December.

The movement was adopted by the committee, which ordered the Inspector Normal of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to execute the warrant.

Afterwards, Mr Etaba defined that the warrant is to compel the involved people to look earlier than it to reply to the problems raised within the petition.

The petition

Earlier, Mr Uzowanem, who’s the petitioner, defined that the petition is on the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) report of 2021.

He stated his organisation found a number of infractions dedicated by gamers within the oil and gasoline sector in connivance with authorities officers.

“We took up the problem to look at the report and found that what NEITI put collectively as a report is simply a consolidation of fraud that has been occurring within the oil and gasoline business.

“It dates again to 2016 as a result of we’ve been following and we put up a petition to this committee to look at what has occurred.

“The 2024 finances of N27.5 trillion that has been proposed will be confidently funded from the recoverable quantity that we recognized within the NEITI report,” he stated.

Mr Uzowanem additionally alleged that some worldwide oil firms laundered hundreds of thousands of {dollars} for the NNPC Restricted, nonetheless, they had been hid by NEITI.

“In different phrases, $124 million was laundered by NNPCL via Whole as a result of monies which were formally paid to Whole couldn’t have been hid in the event that they weren’t meant for fraudulent functions.

“Additionally for Chevron, the greenback fee NEITI places ahead in its report was $76 million however paperwork emanating from Chevron confirmed that they obtained as a lot as $267 million.

“$191 million was laundered beneath the duvet of Chevron and NEITI hid that; additionally, Nigeria Agip Firm obtained $188 million however none of it was reported by NEITI,” he stated.

Energy to arrest warrant

Part 89 of the 1999 structure provides the Nationwide Meeting and its committees the ability to subject arrest warrants in the midst of an investigation.

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Part 89 of the Structure acknowledged that “For the needs of any investigation beneath part 88 of this Constitutional and topic to the provisions thereof, the Senate or the Home of Representatives or a committee appointed in accordance with part 62 of this Structure shall have energy to –

“Difficulty a warrant to compel the attendance of any one that, after having been summoned to attend, fails, refuses or neglects to take action and doesn’t excuse such failure, refusal or neglect to the satisfaction of the Home or the committee in query, and order him to pay all prices which can have been occasioned in compelling his attendance or by purpose of his failure, refusal or neglect to obey the summons, and in addition to impose such wonderful as could also be prescribed for any such failure, refused or neglect; and any wonderful so imposed shall be recoverable in the identical method as a wonderful imposed by a court docket of legislation.

“(2) A summons or warrant issued beneath this part could also be served or executed by any member of the Nigeria Police Pressure or by any particular person authorised on that behalf by the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the Home of Representatives, because the case could require.