The Nigerian Senate has announced it deferred its investigation into the alleged sabotage in the petroleum industry indefinitely, citing the need for wider consultations with stakeholders whose input and participation, they say, will add value to the conclusion of the investigative hearing.
The Senate had set up the ad-hoc committee to investigate billions allegedly spent on maintaining the nation’s moribund refineries; beam searchlight on the regulatory agencies over payment to transporters and unravel alleged importation of hazardous petroleum products and dumping of substandard diesel into the country.
The ad-hoc committee had concluded its pre-investigation undertakings and held an interactive session with the heads of ministries, departments and agencies of government (MDAs) as well as some private interests in the downstream and midstream petroleum sector.
After the exhaustive engagement with select MDAs and private oil firms, the ad-hoc committee had subsequently scheduled its investigative hearing for Tuesday to Thursday, September 10 to 12, 2024
However, in a statement on Sunday evening by the Directorate of Media and Public Affairs,
Office of the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, the Leader of the Senate and chairman, Senate Ad-hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry disclosed those hearings have been put on hold.
Bamidele noted that the decision for the postponement was taken in the best interest of the country and its teeming population.
He further explained that the postponement became imperative considering the compelling need “to consult more widely with expanded stakeholders within and without the petroleum industry and legislative exigencies to further deepen due diligence in the conduct of the investigative hearing.”
He also added that the prevailing realities in the country that demanded urgent interventions of nearly all the stakeholders in the public and private sectors across 36 states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) informed the decision for the postponement.
The statement said: “While we deeply regret all inconveniences it may have caused all the stakeholders collectively or individually; this decision was taken purely and solely in the national interest.”
He explained that each of these decisions was taken to enable the ad-hoc committee the holistic approach to the public hearing and find lasting solutions to the challenges confronting the petroleum sector of the economy.
The Senate Leader, therefore, assured all the stakeholders that a new date for the public hearing would be communicated to them in due course.
