The two ad hoc committees set up by the House of Representatives (Reps) in January 2022 to investigate the current state of petroleum refineries and the actual volume of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) being consumed daily in Nigeria have laid their reports at the parliament.
Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, who ordered the probes, had given the panels four weeks to carry out their respective tasks.
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They reported back to the House on Thursday, about one year after.
The House Ad Hoc Committee on the Volume of Fuel Consumed Daily in the Country is chaired by Abdulkadir Abdullahi.
The House Ad Hoc Committee on the State of Refineries in the Country is chaired by Ganiyu Johnson.
Abdullahi prayed the House to “receive the report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Volume of Fuel Consumed Daily in the Country on the Need to Ascertain the Actual Daily Consumption of Premium Motor Spirit in Nigeria.” Johnson also prayed the House to “receive the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the State of Refineries to Ascertain the Actual Cost of Rehabilitating the Nigerian Refineries.”
The Speaker had on January 26, 2022, ordered investigations of the actual volume of PMS (petrol) consumed daily in Nigeria and the current state of the four national refineries.
Gbajabiamila ordered the probes in the wake of the crises in the petroleum sector, including the importation of ethanol-contaminated petrol, which caused disruptions in the distribution and supply chain of the commodity in the country.
The Speaker stated that the facts must first be made available before the Federal Government takes decisions on the subsidy being paid on petroleum products.
Gbajabiamila consequently set up the two panels to separately investigate the daily consumption of fuel and the state of the refineries.
Gbajabiamila partly said, “It is going to be painstaking, and it is going to be through. Two, what exactly is the state of our refineries and what do we need to bring our refineries back to maximum use? Those two things have to be determined before we get to the issue of fuel subsidy. So, I will set up a very tight ad hoc committee of 12 members for each of those two (issues).”
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
