A citizens’ advocacy group has raised concerns over the scale and frequency of inquiries into the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC, by the House of Representatives, worrying it may become counterproductive and disruptive to ongoing sector reforms.
The Forum for Energy Accountability, while criticising what it described as incessant and overlapping investigations, warned that the trend risks unsettling investor confidence in Africa’s largest oil and gas market.
The group argued that the uncertainty surrounding the regulatory environment sends the wrong signal to international partners considering long-term commitments in upstream, midstream, and gas development.
In a statement issued on Friday, the group’s president, Comrade Ebikeme Jonathan-Ogula, alleged that the barrage of probes by various House committees in recent months now appears like a “regulatory siege” against the national oil company.
He noted that while legislative oversight is a constitutional responsibility, the scale and frequency may be disruptive and do not inspire investor confidence at a very delicate moment for Nigeria’s hydrocarbons sector.
The statement read, “NNPCL, like any public-interest commercial entity, must be accountable. But accountability loses meaning when it becomes indistinguishable from harassment. What we have witnessed in the last few weeks is a wave of overlapping summons that does not serve transparency.”
The group noted that the petroleum industry is still navigating the transition triggered by the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, global energy shifts, and the country’s broader economic reforms aimed at stabilising foreign exchange and boosting inflows.
It said foreign investors already face significant risks ranging from security concerns in producing areas to fiscal volatility and infrastructure gaps.
“Introducing legislative unpredictability, where NNPCL executives are repeatedly summoned for hearings that yield no new findings, only deepens the perception of instability,” he added.
He cited recent reports of multiple committees launching parallel investigations into the company’s crude sales, joint venture operations, frontier activities, external financing, and internal governance processes.
The group argued that such overlap creates unnecessary duplication and fuels public speculation, even when many of the issues relate to ongoing audits or statutory disclosures that follow established procedures.
“This scattershot approach to oversight does not strengthen institutions. It weakens them. It also distracts NNPCL from its core mandate of delivering value to the federation, stabilising supply chains, and fostering investment in gas expansion, domestic refining, and critical midstream infrastructure,” the statement added.
Jonathan-Ogula acknowledged the right of the legislature to examine public entities but urged the House leadership to streamline its processes by consolidating related inquiries under single committees and adhering to clear procedural timelines. This, he said, would preserve both transparency and operational efficiency.
He also called for greater collaboration between the National Assembly and relevant regulatory bodies such as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to ensure that oversight does not conflict with ongoing regulatory reviews or approved work programmes.
“The objective should be to strengthen confidence, not undermine it. Nigeria cannot afford investor hesitation at a time when capital is fleeing to jurisdictions with stability, legal clarity, and predictable oversight,” the group added.
“We call on the leadership of the House of Representatives to intervene so that legitimate oversight does not mutate into a deterrent to investment,” he advised.
Repeated probe of NNPCL may weaken investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil sector – Group to Reps
