The Joint Senate Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream
and Downstream) has ordered the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister for
the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and her counterpart in the Petroleum
Resources Ministry, Mrs. Deziani Allison-Madueke, to appear before it on Monday
next week over the lingering fuel crisis in the country.
Also summoned along with the two ministers are the Group
Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation; Managing Director,
Petroleum Pricing and Regulatory Agency;
and the Director of the
Department of Petroleum Resources.
Representatives of the Major Oil Marketers Association of
Nigeria; Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and the
National Association of Road Transport Owners, are also expected to answer
questions from the senators at the National Assembly Complex by 10:00am.
A statement issued in Abuja by the Chairmen of the two
committees, Senators Emmanuel Paulker
(Upstream) and Magnus Abe (Downstream), explained that the invitation of the
public officers and groups was as a result of the assignment given to them by
the senate.
The statement explained that the Deputy Senate Majority
Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, had on Thursday drew the attention of the Senate
to the lingering fuel scarcity in the country and the untold hardship on the
generality of Nigerians.
It added that Ningi had also urged the federal parliament to
look into the matter with a view to finding the causes and lasting solution to
the problem.
It stated that it was in view of the development that the
Senate directed its committees on Downstream Petroleum sector and Petroleum
Resources (Upstream), to investigate the matter and brief the Upper Chamber
about their findings, next Tuesday.
The Joint Committee said the invitation extended to the
affected individuals, agencies and
groups was therefore necessary in order to obtain adequate information that
would be needed to write their report for submission to the whole house.
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