The summoned appointees had failed to honour invitation of the House of Representatives panel investigating the subject matter for a hearing slated for Thursday, March 24, 2022.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd, Mele Kyari and the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed Shamsuna, have all been summoned by the House of Representatives over the state of the nation’s refineries.
The panel has also summoned the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, the Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, and the managers of the state-owned refineries.
The summoned appointees had failed to honour invitation of the House of Representatives panel investigating the subject matter for a hearing slated for Thursday, March 24, 2022.
The Adhoc Committee was mandated to investigate “Status Report on State of Refineries in the country”, but criticized the Managing Directors of Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Wari Refineries over their failure to appear before the house as well.
The Committee chaired by Johnson Abiodun Ganiyu (APC, Lagos) and deputized by Ishiaka Ibrahim (APC, Ogun), had requested the invited guests present to introduce themselves and in the process discovered that non of the invited Heads of the agencies was present.
Although, the NNPC, Budget Office of the Federation, and the Accountant General’s Office sent representatives which did not seat well with Members of the investigative panel.
Speaking, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee, Isiaka said lack of authorization letter from the Heads of agencies to the Committee depicts disrespect for the Parliament.
“Let not everyone leave here with the impression that they are not important. We respect every person no matter your cadre. We are talking about principle, process and protocol here, if they were not able to attend whereby such a person needs authorization even if it is a messenger. Are you ready to take responsibility when something goes wrong?
“You can also find yourselves on this side of the divide some day. We believe that you do not have the capacity to address us on this issue”, he stated.
While ruling on the matter, the Chairman of the Committee directed all the aforementioned agencies and other key stakeholders invited previously to ensure appearance on the 31 March 2022.
Recall that on the 4th of February 2022, the Speaker of the House Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila had named the Adhoc Committee to investigate and determine the state of refineries in the country and what is needed to bring them back to maximum refining capacity.
The Committee is expected to source information and data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company limited (NNPC), and other relevant stakeholders.
