The Joint
Senate Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream) on
Friday 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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