Marafa ‘ready to flex muscles’ with Adeosun, walks her rep out of senate hearing

Kabir Marafa, chairman of the senate committee on petroleum resources downstream, on Monday walked out a director of the ministry of finance of a public hearing.

The director was sent to represent Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, at a hearing on the alleged N5 trillion subsidy paid to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Marafa said if the minister was not able to make it, she ought to have sent the permanent secretary of the ministry.

The senator said it was disrespectful of Adeosun to have sent a director.

“Director? Not even the permanent secretary, so because she is called to the villa she cannot send a permanent secretary?” he asked.

“With due respect to your personality, I would reject your presentation. We want you to communicate to her the displeasure of this committee.

“This is an indication of disrespect. When the minister of state to petroleum resources is unable to attend, he sends the permanent secretary. And somebody feels she cannot come, and cannot send her permanent secretary? If she is bigger than this institution, let us know that she is bigger. Let us flex muscles and see who is bigger.”

The chairman also rejected a representative of Godwin Emeifele, governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

He said Dipo Fatogun, director of banking and payments, should convey the committee’s “immense displeasure” to the CBN governor.

He hoped that Emeifele did not send him out of “disrespect”.

The chairman also rejected a representative of Godwin Emeifele, governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Marafa added that the funds in question could be used to finance the country’s infrastructural deficit.

The lawmaker wondered why petroleum products refined in the country were paid for by Nigerians.

“Like I said, it is for them to submit documents. This is not the time to cross-examine them. Our questions will be limited to what we want them to submit to us because we are going to invite them on one by one basis. Then we will now scrutinise them on based what they have submitted. Now we have very little questions for them,” he said.

“This is not an interactive session. We want the volumes what quantity you imported and what quantity refined and we want a detailed document of crude that came into this country.

“We want to know on whose authority that the order for Nigerians to pay for products refined in Kaduna, Warri. To me is a turning point whether we even need refineries or not. The refinery refines product, you pay for the subsidy. Then we don’t need refinery let us keep importing our products.”