Senate probes fresh oil scandal

Nigeria’s Senate has launched an investigation into alleged financial mismanagement at the state-owned oil company. This follows the leaking of a letter from State Oil Minister Ibe Kachikwu to President Muhammadu Buhari. BBC News reports that it accuses the managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Baru, of awarding contracts worth more than $26bn without due process. Punch reports that Senator Shehu Sani has urged Buhari to step aside as Petroleum Resources Minister and appoint a successor who can be accountable for the oil industry. The opposition People’s Democratic Party has expressed its outrage at the development. ‘We have been saying this for months that the looting of the nation's resources under this administration is record setting and we are being proven right on (a) daily basis,’ it said in a statement.

PDP statement

Full Punch report

Full BBC News report