Hearings into the missing oil have been opened by an ad hoc committee looking into "illegal transactions" of crude oil by representatives of the now-defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The Code of Conduct Bureau appeared before the committee, led by Mark Gbillah, to start the probe on Tuesday.
Recall that the green chamber decided to launch the investigation in response to a motion made by Isiaka Ibrahim.
In his motion, Ibrahim claimed that NNPC officials had sold 48 million barrels of oil to China but had not transferred the proceeds to the federation account.
Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the House, stated in his opening remarks that the committee has the authority to look into the missing crude oil and entire oil export from 2014 till today.
Ibrahim spoke on behalf of Gbajabiamila, who urged the committee to assist in exposing the actual state of affairs.
The sale of 48 million barrels of Nigeria's crude oil cargoes to China, according to whistleblower charges, cost the nation approximately $2.4 billion in potential revenue, he added.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, and oil firms were invited to the hearing but did not show up, according to the Chairman of the Committee, Gbillah, in his closing remarks.
He issued a warning that all invited officials must abide by the invitation in order for the committee to avoid using its warrant for arrest.
It's regrettable that the attorney general of the federation is not present and the minister of finance are not present.