Speaker Tajudeen Abbas has been under fire from constitutional experts for dissolving the joint committee looking into problems in the petroleum midstream and downstream industries.
The committee’s demise was confirmed by House Spokesman Hon. Akin Rotimi on August 5.
They claimed that any attempt to undo the dissolution should be done so by a formal House resolution and called the action an attempt to hide sectoral problems.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, has come under fire from a number of solicitors and Civil Society Organisations functioning within the Alliance for Transparency, for dissolving the joint committee on Petroleum Midstream and Downstream.
In a statement released on Monday, August 5, House Spokesman Hon. Akin Rotimi Jr. declared that the House leadership had chosen to form a new ad hoc committee to carry out the investigation in place of the current joint committee.
Rotimi’s statement said: “The committee, which was originally assigned to probe the importation of adulterated petroleum products, the shortage of crude oil for local refineries, and other crucial energy security matters, will be replaced by a newly formed ad-hoc committee with the same responsibilities.”
John Lalong, the National Coordinator for the group of lawyers and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), questioned the legitimacy of the House leadership’s decision to dissolve the Standing Committee’s assignment via a media statement from the House Spokesman in response to the decision made by the members of the House in a joint statement.
The statement made clear that the Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream and Midstream), chaired by Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere and Hon. Henry Okojie, by a formal decision during a plenary meeting of the House.
The panel noted that there was confidence in the House’s ability to handle and resolve issues within the downstream and midstream oil sectors due to the public’s great interest and the current economic climate.
Their disappointment stemmed from the fact that the dissolution happened so soon after there were reports indicating that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL), under pressure from the committee’s intense investigation, might have financially influenced the House leadership to accomplish this result.
