- The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has issued an arrest warrant for former NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari over an ongoing financial investigation.
- Kyari stated he is deeply shocked by the legislative directive. He clarified that he formally notified the committee in May regarding his absence due to ongoing medical treatment abroad.
- The legislative panel is aggressively tracking 19 distinct audit queries raised by the Auditor-General of the Federation. The queries focus on ₦210 trillion in unaccounted corporate financial dealings between 2017 and 2023.
The former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has expressed deep shock and surprise over an arrest warrant issued against him by the Senate Committee on Public Accounts.
Eko Hot Blog reports that in an official reaction letter dated June 10, 2026, Kyari explained that his failure to appear physically before the legislative panel was entirely due to health issues and not a deliberate attempt to evade public accountability.
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He stressed that he had previously sent a formal letter to the lawmakers on May 8, which was officially received by the committee on May 11, notifying them that he was out of the country to undergo critical medical care.
Kyari explained that he was completely unaware of any formal congressional invitations before the panel ordered his immediate arrest.
He stated that he would have gladly honored the summons under normal conditions to provide needed structural updates on the state-owned oil firm’s old financial records.
To keep the legislative review moving forward without unnecessary delays, Kyari noted that he previously requested the panel send all relevant questions to his legal representatives so he could respond in writing while completing his treatment abroad.
He maintained that proper document records of all corporate transactions undertaken during his executive leadership were meticulously kept and remain fully available at the NNPCL headquarters for public verification.
The Senate Committee on Public Accounts cracked down on the former oil boss after he failed to appear at a frontline investigative hearing tracking the financial management of NNPCL accounts during his multi-year tenure.
The aggressive motion to issue an immediate bench warrant for his arrest was officially moved by Senator Victor Umeh and seconded by Senator Adams Oshiomhole.
The high-level parliamentary probe is centered on 19 complex audit queries compiled by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, which flagged massive accounting irregularities.
The panel is demanding full accountability for financial transactions worth over ₦210 trillion executed by the company between 2017 and 2023.
