CSO asks reps to streamline NNPC probes to protect investment

The Forum for Energy Accountability, a civil society organisation, has criticised the “incessant” and “overlapping” investigations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by the house of representatives.

The CSO said the trend risks unsettling investor confidence in Africa’s largest oil and gas market.

Ebikeme Jonathan-Ogula, president of the group, said in a statement on Friday that the barrage of probes launched by various house committees had created an “atmosphere of regulatory siege” around the national oil company.

He said legislative oversight was a constitutional duty but added that the scale and frequency of the inquiries now appeared “counterproductive and disruptive to ongoing sector reforms”.

“NNPCL, like any public-interest commercial entity, must be accountable. But accountability loses meaning when it becomes indistinguishable from harassment,” he said.

“What we have witnessed in the last few weeks is a wave of overlapping summons that does not serve transparency, does not aid reform, and certainly does not inspire investor confidence at a very delicate moment for Nigeria’s hydrocarbons sector.”

The group said the petroleum sector was still navigating reforms triggered by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), global energy transitions and wider economic stabilisation efforts.

The forum said uncertainty around the regulatory environment sends the wrong signal to international partners considering long-term investments in upstream, midstream and gas development.

Jonathan-Ogula said foreign investors already faced significant risks, including security challenges, fiscal volatility and infrastructure gaps.

He said repeated and inconclusive legislative summons only deepened perceptions of instability.

He cited reports of multiple committees launching parallel investigations into crude sales, joint venture operations, frontier activities, external financing and internal governance.

The group said such overlap has created duplication and fuelled public speculation, even when many of the issues were already subject to audits or statutory disclosures.

“This scattershot approach to oversight does not strengthen institutions. It weakens them,” the group said.

The forum added that the distraction affected NNPC’s core mandate of delivering value, stabilising supply chains and supporting gas expansion, domestic refining and midstream development.

Jonathan-Ogula said the house leadership should consolidate related inquiries under single committees and follow clear procedural timelines.

He said such reforms would enhance transparency while preserving operational efficiency.

He called for better coordination between the national assembly and regulators such as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The group’s president said oversight must not conflict with ongoing regulatory reviews or approved work programmes.

“The objective should be to strengthen confidence, not undermine it,” he said,

He said Nigeria needs consistent and predictable signals to attract capital for energy transition, gas development and revenue growth.

Jonathan-Ogula urged the house of representatives to adopt a more strategic and evidence-based oversight approach.

“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 added.