The House of Representatives has resolved to constitute an Ad-hoc committee to investigate and identify oil and gas companies favoured to lift Nigeria’s Crude Oil.
The adhoc committee when constituted is also to put in place effective mechanisms to which companies will be quoted in the Nigeria Exchange Group, NEG.
This was sequel to the adoption of a motion by a member from Kano state, Mr Ghali Tijjani at plenary.
The lawmaker stated that despite being the backbone of the nation’s economy, the oil and gas sector lacks effective governance and falls short of transparency and accountability, due to the operations of what he called briefcase companies which add no tangible value to the economy.
According to him, the companies, who lift Nigeria’s crude oil are inexperienced and without the required financial, commercial capacity and expertise in the crude oil business, making Nigeria to loose billions of dollars monthly.
“Cognizantthat the facts havebeen corroborated by other credible bodies including the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiatives (NEITI), Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), Chatham House Report of 2013, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and. the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO).
“Observesthat these companies and their collaborators have become resistant and adamant, and have continued to operate unabated to short-change Nigerians, despite many recommendations to do away with them.
He expressed concerned that there are only a negligible number of oil and gas companies registered with the Nigerian Exchange Group, despite the global prominence of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
He observed that listing the companies on the Stock Exchange would curb the incessant revenue loss, create capital availability to the economy as well as allow the regulatory authorities to have greater control over their activities.
The adhoc committee is to report back to the house within four weeks for further legislative action.
Confidence Okwuchi
