THE House of Representatives, on Tuesday, during the clause by clause consideration of the Honourable Farouk Lawan-led panel 205-page report on subsidy regime,
rejected the committee's soft landing recommendation for the former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmadu Ali, who served as chairman of the Board of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) from 2009 to 2011 alongside his other board members.
The Lawan panel had recommended that "the chairman of the Board of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), from 2009 to 2011 and the entire members of the board during the period are hereby reprimanded and their decision, which opened the floodgate for the bazaar is condemned in the strongest terms."
But during the consideration of the report, members kicked against the recommendation and amended it to include that Senator Ali and other board members of the PPPRA should be investigated and prosecuted.
However, in a dramatic turn of event, the 17 oil marketers that failed to appear before the panel and neither made submissions but were indicted and asked to refund N42 billion through the intervention of relevant anti-corruption agencies had their way as they were given two weeks by the House to appear before the panel to defend themselves in the spirit of fair hearing and due process.
It will be recalled that the affected oil marketers had threatened to institute legal action against the House for allegedly not giving them fair hearing by the committee that probed the subsidy regime.
The House’s decision on the affected companies was sequel to the input of Honourable Osai Osai, who made case for the oil marketers, saying that they should be given fair hearing, but was initially rejected by members who raised objection.
But the Deputy Speaker, Honourable Emeka Ihedioha, who chaired the committee of the whole, asked the House committee chairman on Rules and Business, Honourable Sam Tsokwa and a member of the panel, the chairman, House Committee on Justice, Honourable Ali Ahmed, to guide the House and they were of the opinion that the 17 companies should be re-invited in the spirit of fair hearing.
To this end, Honourable Tobi Okechukwu proposed an amendment that the 17 companies should re-appear before the committee within two weeks to explain the level of their involvement in the N42 billion subsidy fund.
The House also approved the recommendations that the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation should urgently audit the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) accounts and submit the report to its committee on public accounts within three months.
Approval was also given to the panel’s recommendation that President Goodluck Jonathan should re-organise the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, to make it more effective in carrying out the reforms in the oil and gas sector and, as well,
appoint two ministers to take charge of the upstream and downstream of the petroleum sector.
The lawmakers also adopted the recommendations that stopped the NNPC from any form of deduction not captured in the Appropriation Act before remittance to the federation accounts, while the corporation should submit its transactions to the operational guidelines of the subsidy scheme.
The House also approved the recommendation that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) should follow up and penalise all the companies that defaulted in paying their taxes, in line with the provisions of the Companies Income Tax Act within three months.
In all, 35 recommendations by the committee were adopted with amendments where necessary by the House, while the remaining 10 recommendations had been slated for consideration today.
Earlier, the Speaker, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, while making a remark before the consideration of the report, lauded the commitment of the Lawan-led ad hoc committee and reiterated that the House would not spare anyone indicted so as to sanitise the polity.
Addressing newsmen after the sitting, spokesman of the House, Honourable Zakari Mohammed, said the resolution of the House to re-invite the 17 marketers to face the Lawan panel was done in the spirit of fair hearing and best interest of the country.
“In a country like Nigeria were people live on less than $2 per day, oil, which is very central to our economy, can never be wished away. We must take up steps so that poverty can be eradicated,” he said.
NUPENG, PENGASSAN absolve NNPC of fraud
However, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum ad Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have absolved the management of the NNPC on the allegation of receiving the sum of N1.329 trillion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as alleged in the report of the fuel subsidy probe.
According to a press statement issued by the NNPC, NUPENG and PENGASSAN, the probe report was capable of inciting Nigerians against its members and the corporation,
The unions said they were compelled to issue the statement because of the adverse effect the fuel subsidy probe would have on the welfare of its members.
Defending the management of the NNPC on what it describesd as the weighty allegation, the unions called on the NLC, TUC and security agencies to investigate whether the said amount was ever paid, to whom and for what purposes.
Pro-Diezani protesters storm NASS
Members of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), on Tuesday, stormed the National Assembly over an alleged plan to remove the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke through the report of the subsidy probe.
The CSOs, led by the president of Change Nigeria Initiative, Mr Ebi Ken Alagba, however, claimed that an unidentified group had been distributing $200 and $500 notes to the unsuspecting members of the public to protest the removal of the minister.
According to him, “we are not against the probe report because, for the first time, the Federal Government encouraged reforms in the petroleum sector of the country, but if the report is designed to rubbish the minister, we will not be part of it.”
Source: www.tribune.com.ng
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