House of Reps Demands HyPREP's Response to Audit Query

The House of Representatives has issued a 7-day ultimatum to the Programme Coordinator of the HydroCarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HyPREP) to appear regarding a N400 billion audit query from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation for the years 2021 and 2024. This decision was made during a Public Accounts Committee hearing on Monday, led by Chairman Bamidele Salam.

He stated that this ultimatum serves as a final warning after HyPREP failed to respond to four previous invitations. Salam indicated that if the Programme Coordinator does not appear by Monday, 12th October 2026, the House will be compelled to enforce attendance through its powers.

The Committee has also invited the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ogoni Remediation Trust Fund. The audit reports revealed that HyPREP did not submit its audited accounts from 2017 to 2021 and included several irregularities, such as the improper awarding of contracts, non-deduction of statutory taxes amounting to $2.1 million, and payments for poorly executed contracts totaling N7.2 billion.