Lawan Hamidu, Abuja
The House of Representatives Adhoc Committee investigating the status of Nigerian refineries has threatened to invoke an arrest warrant on the Minister of State for Petroleum for failing to honor the committees’ invitation.
Other officials turned down the invitation and threatened by the lawmakers are the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation NNPC and the Managers of Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna Refineries.
The five officials were invited to explain why the refineries were not working despite huge sums of money spent on their repairs.
The Chairman of the committee, AbdulGaniyu Johnson, while briefing National Assembly Correspondents said the failure of the invitees to honor the invitation for the third time was a disregard to the committee and the National Assembly as an institution.
He said “We are compelled to make this Press Statement because of the continued refusal and flagrant disregard of the GMD of the NNPC, the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the General Managers of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries to the invitations to appear before the Committee. We consider this continued refusal and negligence to appear before the Committee as disrespect to the Leadership of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
’’This Committee has the mandate of the House of Representatives and the Constitutional responsibility to demand accountability from those in positions of managing our resources.
It is worrisome that the GMD of the NNPC, the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the General Managers of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries have refused on three invitations to appear before the Committee to account for the Billions of Dollars spent on the rehabilitation of the refineries over the years.”
Members of the Committee expressed dismay over the non-appearance of the invitees saying that such action suggests that they are hiding things from Nigerians.
The committee then resolved to summon the top four oil and gas officials next week, failure to which constitutional measures would be taken against them.
Three point seven billion US Dollars, about one point seven trillion Naira was spent on the repairs of three refineries of Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna but Nigeria still import refined petroleum products for its domestic use.
The Committee revealed that the NNPC recently awarded contracts for the Rehabilitation of Refineries in the following sums:
Warri Refinery and Petro-Chemical Company $900 Million
Port Harcourt Refinery Company $1.5 Billion
Kaduna Refinery and Petro-Chemical Company $1.3 Billion
Olusola Akintonde
