Reps inaugurate stakeholders’ C’ttee to address 5% user charge collection, disbursement

By Christiana Ekpa

The House of Representatives Ad hoc committee   to investigate the implementation and remittance of the five percent user charge on pump price of petroleum products for road maintenance, has inaugurated two stakeholders’ Committees to address issues surrounding the collection and disbursement of the charges.

The user charge as contained in the Act establishing the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) stipulated 40 percent of the proceeds will accrue to FERMA and 60 percent to be utilized by the established state roads  maintenance  agencies.

Chairman of the Ad hoc committee, Hon. Francis Waive said the two committees were expected to look into the pre-Tax Act, and the post-Tax Act situations, and address areas of conflicts with the FERMA Act, lamenting the five percent user charge had over the years, “not been operationalised.”

He gave the two committees terms of reference to Include; specifying modalities, procedures and processes for collection and disbursement, recommending specific modalities for personnel, opening of beneficiary bank account for remittance of collections, identifying and specifying roles to be played by specific relevant MDAs, and identifying gaps and conflicts of policies, and realignment for further legislative actions.

“This is a national assignment, not a personal business. It is for our roads to be good as elsewhere. We can make the difference for our  country, so please, take this serious.

“I want to appeal, and trust that you’re going to work diligently without bias, without fear or favour”, Waive said as he pronounced the committees inaugurated.

Membership of the committees were drawn from FERMA, Nigeria Petroleum Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NPMDPRA), Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).