CSO commends Abbas for dissolving panel probing NNPC

The Coalition for Energy Transformation, Integrity and Transparency (CETIT) has commended Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representatives, for dissolving an ad hoc committee probing Nigeria’s downstream sector.

The panel, comprising the house committees on petroleum resources (downstream) and (midstream), was relieved of its responsibility on Monday.

The joint committee was headed by Ikenga Ugochinyere, a lawmaker from Imo state.

In July, the committee was inaugurated to investigate the importation of adulterated petroleum products into the country, and the non-availability of crude oil for domestic refineries, among other energy matters.

However, the panel has been embroiled in controversy, particularly regarding the investigation of the standoff between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDRA).

The probe of the two entities has divided members of the green chamber, with a group of lawmakers calling for the sack of Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer of NMDPRA; and Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

‘ABASS SAVED REPS FROM EMBARRASSMENT’

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Godknows Joseph, Ayoola Daramola, and Musa Akilu, the coalition’s coordinator, secretary and spokesperson respectively, said the committee was biased in its investigation.

“It was also wrong for Members of the House to preemptively take positions even before the probe could be done and concluded,” the statement reads.

“This was going to set the entire House of Representatives on fire and it was of great danger to the institution of the National Assembly so revered.

“Under normal circumstances, the House Members should have been patriotic enough to place national interest above their personal interests but everyone seemed to be speaking or acting according to what his or her interest was while the committee was also perceived to be pursuing vendetta and the whole essence was defeated ab initio.

“But for the swift intervention and the nationalistic approach of His Excellency, RT. Hon. Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, the whole thing would have snowballed into anarchy and the entire National Assembly institution would have been brought to international embarrassment while the meat of the matter would have been left untouched and the original intent of why the committee was set up would have been defeated.

“The decision of the Speaker was timely.

“We had met at the weekend in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and agreed to officially address the press on Tuesday and unearth what we felt about the joint committee and some Members of the House and why the leadership of the House must, as a matter of urgent national importance, purge the House of such Committee and allow fresh and professional panel to handle the investigation.

“Failure to do this, we were going to mobilize thousands of our members in Abuja to occupy the National Assembly anytime the committee sits.”

The CSOs said Abbas has ‘“written his name in gold” for dissolving the committee, adding that the action will earn the house the trust of Nigerians.