Senate set to probe NNPC on state of refineries

The senate on Wednesday summoned the management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to explain the state of the nation’s refineries as well as all structures under its supervision.

In a prayer, Olusola Adeyeye (Osun-central) argued that the senate should go beyond urging the government to act, and instead hold its ministries, agencies and departments to account.

He prayed that the senate “‎summon the NNPC as soon as possible to give account of the state of the refineries and other structures under its control”.

He also urged the senate to advise the government to revamp the existing refineries and encourage the establishment of private ones.

Bukola Saraki, senate president, put the prayer to a voice vote, after which the senate agre‎ed to summon the NNPC “as soon as the relevant committee was set up”.

The senate also called on the federal government to revamp the rail system‎ to ease the pressure on the roads.

Earlier, Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos East) moved a motion asking the senate to urge the government to “revamp the existing refineries and make them functional”.

Ashafa cited the recent Lagos and Onitsha petrol tanker tragedies in which lives and property were lost as reasons why the railway lines must be revamped.

He observed that if the refineries‎ were functional, “all the tankers in Nigeria would not have business coming to Lagos to lift fuel as refineries in Port-Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna would have taken care of that”.

‎Contributing to the debate, Adeola Solomon Olamilekan (Lagos West), supported Ashafa’s motion and suggested that tanker drivers be instructed to only ply the roads at night to prevent accidents.

On his part, George Akume (Benue northwest) suggested that men of the Federal Road Safety Corps‎ (FRSC) should be “effectively deployed” to the roads to curb accidents caused by petrol tankers.

In his own contribution, Shehu Sani (Kaduna central) ‎ suggested the establishment of tank farms outside the cities to ease vehicular congestion.

The senate‎ subsequently asked the FRSC to train tank drivers on best road safety practices.