Senate Cautions Oshiomhole, Says It Did Not Order The Arrest Of Mele Kyari, Fmr. NNPCL Group MD

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Senate on Thursday, June 11, 2026, distanced itself from the purported arrest warrant issued on former Group Managing Director GMD of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited NNPCL, Mele Kyari.

The Senate, also, cautioned the Senator representing  Edo North Senatorial District, Adams Oshiomhole against attempts at presenting his personal views as official Senate position.

The Senate’s reaction comes  against the backdrop of widespread reports, which  suggested that it has issued an arrest warrant on Kyari over his failure to appear before  its Committee on Public Accounts currently carrying out an inquest into alleged unaccounted public earnings to the tune of over N210 trillion.

Kyari, who is currently outside the country had, on Wednesday, in a statement  expressed serious concern over the purported issuance of an arrest warrant on him despite officially notifying the Senate of his medical trip abroad.

” I refer to the news of the arrest warrant issued against me during the proceedings of your esteemed Committee today ,June 10, 2026. I am deeply shocked by the issuance of the warrant” Kyari noted.

According to him, in the notice to the Senate, he had equally expressed his readiness to make himself available immediately he returns from his trip.

Similarly, Senator Oshiomhole ,a member of the Public Accounts Committee had described the NNPCL as a cesspool of corruption, an assessment which has since drawn an official reaction from the Bayo Ojulari-led NNPCL current management team.

But at plenary on Thursday, the Senate pointedly clarified that it is not privy to the said arrest warrant, noting that the action emanated from the Public Accounts Committee.

It explained that the action of the Committee does not represent the position of the entire Senate which must meet to consider, adopt or jettison the Committee’s recommendations.

According to the Senate, resolutions and pronouncements made by its committees do not automatically translate to official decisions of the legislative body.

It emphasized that Committee works can only become official decisions after being deliberated upon and adopted by the Committee of the Whole.

This was as the Senate strongly disassociated itself from the comments credited to Senator Oshiomhole, where he described the NNPCL in  derogatory terms.

For, the records ,the Senator representing Edo North had during the Committee sitting, referred to the NNPCL and its officials as a ” bunch of criminals and thieves”.

However ,the Senate has insisted that Oshiomhole’s remarks remain personal to him.