By Godwin Ejoh
The House of Representatives has given the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) seven days to appear before its Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and explain a series of audit queries involving billions of naira and millions of dollars.
The ultimatum followed a public hearing by the committee on Monday after HYPREP’s Programme Coordinator failed to appear despite four invitations.
The committee’s Chairman, Rep. Bamidele Salam, said the latest invitation was the agency’s final opportunity to appear before the panel.
He directed HYPREP’s accounting officer to appear on or before Monday, October 12, 2026, warning that failure to comply would prompt the House to invoke its constitutional powers to compel the official’s appearance.
The committee also summoned the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ogoni Remediation Trust Fund to answer questions concerning the management of funds earmarked for the cleanup programme.
Billions queried in audit reports
Among the issues raised by the committee was HYPREP’s alleged failure to submit audited accounts to the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation between 2017 and 2021.
The 2021 audit report contained several queries, including alleged irregular contract awards and failure to deduct statutory taxes amounting to $2.1 million.
The report also queried: N986 millionallegedly paid for consultancy services without evidence that the services were executed. N315 million reportedly paid for training, N7.2 billion allegedly spent on poorly executed contracts. N268 million paid without pre-payment audit. N32 million in statutory taxes allegedly not deducted. 31.8 million paid to external solicitors without approval from the Attorney-General of the Federation. N931 million in alleged extra-budgetary expenditure.
The committee also raised concerns over alleged duplication of services, including contracts worth N182 million, and duplicated monitoring and evaluation functions valued at N507 million.
Another query involved N43 million allegedly paid for advertisements without evidence of performance. The audit report also raised questions over an officer who allegedly remained in office after the expiration of the officer’s secondment.
2024 audit raises fresh queries
The committee said the 2024 Audit Report contained additional financial concerns.
According to the report presented before the lawmakers, HYPREP made an unverified payment of N1.5 billion as compensation.
It also queried the non-retirement of N14 million in cash advances, an alleged irregular payment of N229.1 million, and N260 million reportedly spent on a training programme without evidence that it was executed.
The committee further raised concerns over the alleged denial of access to project documents and records relating to transactions valued at N27.5 billion.
Reps demand explanation on $1bn Ogoni fund
Salam said HYPREP and the Ogoni Remediation Trust Fund would also be required to explain the management of the $1 billion reportedly contributed towards the Ogoni cleanup following the withdrawal of Shell Petroleum Development Company from the area.
The committee will also seek clarification over a claim by Renaissance Energy Limited that it contributed more than $900 million to the fund.
Salam said the committee’s action formed part of its ongoing examination of audit queries and public expenditure connected to the Ogoni cleanup programme.
HYPREP was established to implement recommendations arising from the United Nations Environment Programme’s assessment of oil pollution in Ogoniland, including the remediation of polluted sites and restoration of affected livelihoods.
