Lawyers, CSOs fault Reps’ move to abolish fuel probe committee
Constitutional lawyers have condemned Speaker Tajudeen Abbas for dissolving the joint committee investigating issues in the Petroleum Midstream and Downstream sectors
On August 5, House Spokesman Hon. Akin Rotimi announced the dissolution of the committee.
They labelled the move as an attempt to cover up sector issues and argued that any reversal of the dissolution should be done through a formal House resolution.
Several lawyers and Civil Society Organizations, operating under the Alliance for Transparency, have criticized Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, for dissolving the joint committee on Petroleum Midstream and Downstream.
On Monday, August 5, House Spokesman Hon. Akin Rotimi Jnr. announced in a statement that the House leadership had decided to disband the existing joint committee and establish a new ad-hoc committee to continue the investigation.
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.”
Reacting to the decision by the Reps members in a joint statement, John Lalong, the National Coordinator for the group of lawyers and Civil Society Organizations (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.
The statement highlighted that the original referral was made to the Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and (Midstream), led by Hon.
Ikenga Ugochinyere and Hon. Henry Okojie, through a formal resolution in a House plenary session.
The group noted that the public’s strong interest and the current economic climate demonstrated confidence in the House’s ability to address and resolve issues within the downstream and midstream oil sectors.
They expressed disappointment that the dissolution occurred shortly after allegations surfaced suggesting that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPCL), facing pressure from the committee’s rigorous scrutiny, may have financially influenced the House leadership to achieve this outcome.
The group condemned the dissolution as an illegal manoeuvre to obscure problems within the petroleum sector and insisted that reversing this decision should also require a formal resolution by the House in a plenary session.
