The House of Representatives has given Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project, HYPREP, a seven-day ultimatum to appear before its Public Accounts Committee. The ultimatum follows adoption of a resolution at a public hearing attended by 27 members. Chairman of the Committee, Bamidele Salam, said this was the final warning to HYPREP, following its failure to honour four previous invitations. HYPREP must appear on Monday, October 12, 2026.
The Committee's public hearing revealed audit queries involving over 400 billion naira. HYPREP failed to submit its audited accounts to the Auditor-General of the Federation between 2017 and 2021. Other queries include irregular award of contracts and non-deduction of statutory taxes amounting to 2.1 million dollars. The Committee also queried payments for consultancy services and training without evidence of execution.
The Committee's audit reports indicate that HYPREP made several irregular payments. These include 986 million naira for consultancy services, 315 million naira for training, and 7.2 billion naira for poorly executed contracts. Additionally, 268 million naira was paid without prepayment audit, and 32 million naira in statutory taxes was not deducted.
Further queries include engagement of external solicitors for 31.8 million naira without approval from the Attorney-General of the Federation. There were also concerns over undocumented crude oil recovery from remediation sites and extra-budgetary expenditure of 931 million naira. The Committee also noted adoption of a progressive salary scale for contract staff and duplication of services through contracts worth 182 million naira.
The Committee also raised concerns over duplication of monitoring and evaluation functions valued at 507 million naira. Irregular payment of 43 million naira for advertisement without evidence of performance was also queried. The 2024 Audit Report further raised queries over an unverified payment of 1.5 billion naira in compensation and non-retirement of 14 million naira in cash advances.
The Committee also queried irregular payment of 229.1 million naira and payment of 260 million naira for a training programme without evidence of execution. Additionally, there were concerns over denial of access to 27.5 billion naira worth of project documents and records. The Committee will also examine issues surrounding the one-billion-dollar fund reportedly contributed for the Ogoni cleanup.
Chairman of the Committee, Bamidele Salam, said HYPREP and the Ogoni Remediation Trust Fund would also be required to explain claims by Renaissance Energy Limited that it contributed more than 900 million dollars to the fund. The Committee's investigation follows the withdrawal of Shell Petroleum Development Company from the project.
Key points
- The House of Representatives has given HYPREP a 7-day ultimatum to appear before its Public Accounts Committee.
- The audit queries involve over 400 billion naira in Ogoni cleanup funds.
- The Committee will also examine claims of over 1 billion dollars contributed for the Ogoni cleanup.
