By Christiana Ekpa
The House of Representatives, Wednesday set up two separate Ad hoc committees to investigate the unresolved issues in the ongoing debate on the propriety or otherwise of the planned removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), particularly called petrol.
One of the committees is expected to determine the actual daily consumption of PMS in Nigeria, while the other was charged with the responsibility of ascertaining the current state of the nation’s petroleum refineries.
The Federal Government of Nigeria had recently mooted the total removal of subsidy on PMS, prompting reactions from many Nigerians against the move in view of the present economic situation of the country, even as the organised labour was up in arms to stage nationwide protests.
Though President Muhammadu Buhari later announced that the removal might not be coming until 2023, with a promise that such move would be subject to approval of the National Assembly
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila while announcing the committees on Wednesday, said there were questions that needed to be answered before the parliament can take a position.
He named Abdulkadir Ningi as Chairman of the 14-member panel to determine the volume of daily consumption of PMS, charging the team not to merely rely on figures provided by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), being an interested party. “Talk to experts, transport unions, the organised labour, and go beyond the figures of the NNPC. Deal with facts”, he charged the committee, saying its report was expected within four weeks.
Also announcing membership of the second Ad hoc committee, a 15-member panel under Chairmanship of Engineer Ganiyu Johnson, the Speaker tasked the team to among other things, “determine the state of repair or disrepair of of our refineries, and what is needed to bring them to life again.
According to the Speaker, the debate had been on over different figures being bandied around on the actual volume of daily consumption of petrol in Nigeria, as well as the real state of the refineries at the moment. “These questions need to be determined”, he said, noting that doing so will form the basis for the next move.
