The management of the Ogoni cleanup project faces a critical accountability test as the House of Representatives seeks answers to audit queries involving more than ₦400 billion.
The House Public Accounts Committee set Monday, October 12, 2026, as the deadline for the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to appear and respond to questions raised in the 2021 and 2024 audit reports.
The committee said the latest invitation followed four previous invitations that the agency had failed to honour.
The audit queries include ₦986 million paid for consultancy services without evidence of execution, ₦7.2 billion associated with poorly executed projects, ₦268 million paid without prepayment audit and ₦31.8 million in legal fees questioned over the absence of the required approval. Other queries concern missing audited accounts for 2017–2021 and contract-related issues involving $2.1 million.
These are serious questions. But the distinction must remain clear: the ₦400 billion figure represents the value of audit queries, not a proven finding that ₦400 billion was stolen.
That distinction does not reduce the need for accountability. The cleanup concerns communities affected by decades of oil pollution. Money that cannot be properly accounted for undermines public confidence and raises questions about whether environmental remediation is delivering value.
HYPREP should provide documentary responses to each query, including contracts, payment records, evidence of completed work, statutory deductions and audited accounts.
The House committee must also explain its next steps. If the agency appears, the public deserves to know what evidence it presents. If it fails to appear again, the committee should explain what lawful enforcement action follows.
Repeated invitations are not accountability by themselves. The outcome must be a clear record of what happened, what remains unresolved and what corrective action is required.
The people of Ogoni deserve both environmental restoration and credible stewardship of the money committed to it.
By Viewers Corner News