The Red chambers of the Nigerian National Assembly has resolved to mandate its Committee on Downstream Petroleum to investigate all contracts awarded for the rehabilitation of all the state-owned refineries between 2010 and 2023.
Part of the mandate of the lawmakers will be to ascertain progress on the ongoing works in all refineries in a bid to order to forestall waste and corruption and interrogate the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on the best approach to commercializing and/or ensuring profitability of the state-owned Refineries; and Invite the NNPCL, NUPRC and LNG to explain the nation’s preparation for Green Energy Sources in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that the Senate frowned at what they perceive to be sabotage of the Federal Government’s effort to resuscitate the nation’s refineries, in spite of N11.35 trillion spent on maintenance of the moribund refineries.
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The Senate has also raised the urgent need for security agencies to probe the circumstances leading to the Otukpo bank robbery attack on Friday, October 20 which claimed the lives of nearly of 8 persons including 4 police personnel. It also called for an unravelling of reasons behind the lack of intelligence and alertness on the part of the police on the day of the attack.
For the motion moved by Senator Abba Moro (PDP, Benue South) the Senate also observed a minute silence in honour of the dead victims of the Otukpo bank robbery.
In a related development, the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government of Nigeria has pledged its support for the revival of the $1 billion Kaztec Engineering Limited oil and gas fabrication yard at Snake Island, Ilashe, Lagos State in an effort to encourage more Nigerian businesses to invest in the country’s oil and gas industry and blue economy and subsequently contribute to the nation’s economic growth.
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola, offered the assurance on Sunday in Lagos during his inspection and on-the-spot assessment of the fabrication yard, which has been shut down for the past eight years due to force majeure declared on it by Addax Petroleum, the project’s technical partner.