NASS revives c’ttee to probe economic sabotage in petroleum industry

The National Assembly has reconstituted an ad-hoc committee to investigate alleged economic sabotage in the country’s petroleum industry, after months of speculations that some stakeholders were working to stop the oil probe.

Jibrin Barau, the deputy president of the Senate, confirmed the moves during plenary last week.

Recall that Opeyemi Bamidele, the leader of the Senate, had before now sponsored a motion on the need for the two chambers of the National Assembly to jointly investigate alleged economic sabotage in the oil industry.

The Senate communicated the decision to reconstitute an ad-hoc committee to the House of Representatives to conduct a more holistic investigation that would sanitise the petroleum industry.

In his motion, Bamidele observed that the House of Representatives had debated on the same subject and also constituted its ad-hoc committee to investigate it.

He stressed the need for ad-hoc committees of the two chambers to work together to avoid duplication in the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities.

Bamidele called for the reconstitution of the committee to be named as “National Assembly joint ad-hoc committee to investigate alleged economic Sabotage in the Nigerian petroleum industry.

The upper chamber also resolved “to communicate its decision to the House of Representatives to constitute the equal number of an ad-hoc committee that will work with the Senate.” The joint ad-hoc committee is to be chaired by Bamidele.

The Senate had on Wednesday, July 3, debated a motion on the urgent need to investigate the importation of hazardous petroleum products and dumping of substandard diesel into Nigeria moved by Asuquo Ekpenyong (APC-Cross River).

The Senate, on Thursday, July 11, re-captioned the title of the ad-hoc committee to ad-hoc committee to investigate alleged economic sabotage in the Nigerian petroleum industry.

After holding meetings with key stakeholders in the petroleum sector, the Bamidele committee put its activities on hold while conducting a joint session with the lower chamber and providing workable antidotes to a myriad of challenges in the industry.