By Onyeche Igwe
The Senate has postponed the public hearing for the alleged sabotage in the petroleum industry.
The Senate explained that the hearing was postponed for wider consultations with stakeholders whose input and participation would add value to the conclusion of the investigative hearing.
Some key stakeholders summoned to appear before the committee at a public hearing scheduled for September 10 to 12, 2024, include the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Ports Authority.
Other entities summoned are the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Navy, International Oil Companies, Dangote Group, Capital Oil, and modular refineries.
The upper chamber also cited legislative exigencies aimed at further deepening due diligence in conducting the investigative hearing as another reason for postponing it.
The Leader of the Senate and Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), gave these reasons in a statement on Sunday.
The Senate had set up the ad hoc committee to investigate billions spent on maintaining the nation’s refineries, shine a spotlight on regulatory agencies’ overpayment to transporters, and unravel the alleged importation of hazardous petroleum products and dumping of substandard diesel into the country.
The ad-hoc committee had concluded its pre-investigation undertakings and held an interactive session with the heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as some private interests in the downstream and midstream petroleum sector.
After the exhaustive engagement with select MDAs and private oil firms, the ad-hoc committee subsequently scheduled its investigative hearing for Tuesday, 10th to Thursday, 12th September 2024
However, in his statement on Sunday, Bamidele explained the decision of the ad-hoc committee to postpone the investigative hearing after due consultation with all its members and key actors in the petroleum industry.
He, further, noted that the ad-hoc committee would communicate a new date for the conduct of the investigative hearing to all the stakeholders in due course.
Explaining the compelling reasons for the deferment, Bamidele noted that the decision for the postponement was taken in the best interest of the federation and its teeming population.
He further explained that the postponement became imperative considering the compelling need “to consult more widely with expanded stakeholders within and without the petroleum industry and legislative exigencies to further deepen due diligence in the conduct of the investigative hearing.“
He added that the prevailing realities in the country that demanded urgent interventions of nearly all the stakeholders in the public and private sectors across 36 states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory informed the resolve for the postponement.
Bamidele said, “While we deeply regret all inconveniences it may have caused all the stakeholders collectively or individually, this decision was taken purely and solely in the national interest.”
He explained that each of these decisions was taken to enable the ad-hoc committee a holistic approach to the public hearing and find lasting solutions to the challenges confronting the petroleum sector of the economy.
Bamidele, therefore, assured all the stakeholders that a new date for the public hearing would be communicated to them in due course.
This came as the Kwara State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress appealed to the Federal Government to reverse the recent increment in the price of petrol.
The union in a statement issued on Sunday by the State Chairman of NLC, Muritala Olayinka, described the increase as an “assault on workers wellbeing and a breach of contract.”
It told the Federal Government to reverse what it called “economic policies that are not labour-friendly and anti-people.”
After NNPC hiked petrol prices last week, independent fuel stations adjusted and dispensed the commodity between N1000 and N1200 per litre.
In some fuel stations in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, for instance, a litre of fuel is dispensed at N1000.
Reacting to this, the NLC chairman took a swipe at the Federal Government for reneging on the agreement it reached with the organised labour, recalling that the decision to accept N70,000 as the new minimum wage was on the basis that there won’t be a hike in petrol price.
Olayinka noted that the government was insensitive to raise the pump price of fuel at a time when the citizens were experiencing economic hardship on account of economic policies.
The NLC chairman however urged the citizens to remain calm and steadfast and avoid acts capable of causing tension, saying that the leadership of the organised labour is working and monitoring the trend of events arising from fuel price increases.
He said, “The Nigeria Labour Congress Kwara State Council received the news of the recent fuel price hike with indignation. This hike is worrisome due to the harsh socio-economic situation in the state and Nigeria at large.
“It is with a deep feeling of compassion and patriotism that we address our workers and the general public on the economic dilemma of the moment caused by the hike in the price of PMS otherwise known as petrol.
“The increase in the petrol price during this period of economic hardship and strangulation calls for a deep sense of concern that may culminate in a national debate or dialogue on the direction toward the living standards of workers and Nigerian people.
“Consequently, it is our resolve to engage the government to bring succour to the working class people and the Nigeria masses. We are working with the relevant stakeholders and authorities to bring hope to our members and the general public,” he said.
The union urged the Federal Government to review and revert some of its economic policies that are not labour-friendly and anti-people.
