The House ad hoc committee investigating the country’s daily consumption of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also called fuel, has summoned NNPC Limited Group Managing Director Mele Kyari to brief him on the matter.
The Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefielethe Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva and others.
The summons was issued Tuesday when officials declined the panel’s initial invitation.
The Chamber had decided in January to investigate daily consumption after a motion presented by Hassan Fulata (APC, Jigawa).
President Femi Gbajabiamila, who was represented by Deputy Majority Leader Peter Akpatason, in opening the hearing, expressed his dissatisfaction with the attitude of government officials.
The speaker said officials are not taking the hearing seriously. He said that invited MDAs should be represented by their CEOs.
He called the officials’ attitude “an attempt to thwart the committee’s effort. And parliament will not take it lightly.”
“In a situation where stakeholders have the opportunity to come and participate in a parliamentary investigative hearing and organizations do not take it seriously, it is highly unacceptable for parliament,” he said.
“In fact, it was expected that the critical stakeholders that have been invited here should be represented by their CEOs. I can hardly see any executive directors here, let alone send representatives. It’s a shame, it’s not acceptable to the House of Representatives.”
“I want to make it very clear. It is not acceptable to parliament that people, organizations that have a responsibility to manage a critical task like PMS distribution in this county, are reluctant to come here to fulfill their duties.”
Other committee members also condemned the officials and called for sanctions.
Aniekan Umanah (PDP, Akwa-Ibom) asked the committee to invoke the necessary part of the law to deal with the officials.
He said that despite the huge amount of money allocated for the subsidy, Nigerians are still struggling to get gasoline, adding that diesel has become unaffordable for most Nigerians.
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Mr. Umanah said, “For you to sleep at home now, it will spend 25 to 30 liters of diesel to burn one night only at N800 to N1000 (per litre). And then we’re not taking this seriously?
In his ruling, the committee’s chairman, Abdullahi Abdulkadir (APC, Bauchi), said officials must appear before the committee to address issues related to daily consumption.
Controversy over consumption
Daily fuel consumption has become a controversial issue in recent years.
Last year, Kyari said the country was consuming 103 million liters per day in May 2021 and was between 70 and 60 million liters per day in June 2021.
Lawmakers had ordered a committee to investigate the claim.
In the course of the investigation, the Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Hameed Ali, accused the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources of aiding smuggling.