The House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts has given a 72-hour ultimatum to eight oil companies to appear before it and address allegations of N9.4 trillion unremitted royalties to the federation account.
The companies were among nine summoned by a sub-committee investigating the non-remittance of royalties as identified in a report by the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation.
The eight companies that failed to appear were Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Ltd, AITEO Group, All Grace Energy, Amalgamated Oil Company Nigeria Limited, Amni International Petroleum Development Company Limited, Bilton Energy Limited, Britannia-U, and Waltersmith Petroman Limited.
Only Belema Oil Producing Ltd was represented by its Managing Director, Ahmad H. Sambk yesterday, and the committee, however, asked them to return today, due to a late submission of documents.
The investigation, which was based on the report of Auditor General for the Federation (OAuGF) alleged that the amounts were unpaid royalties, concession rentals, and gas flare penalties and other obligations arising from production sharing contracts, repayment agreements, and modified carry arrangements.
