The ad hoc committee set up by the House of Representatives to investigate and determine the actual volume of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, which Nigeria consumes daily, has begun the probe behind closed doors.
The committee held its inaugural meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, who ordered the probe earlier in January, had stated that the Federal Government needed to first establish the daily consumption of the petroleum product before seeking an extension of the subsidy regime.
The government is billed to present executive bills to the parliament to amend the 2022 Appropriation Act and the Petroleum Industry Act, as part of the move to extend the subsidy regime, following the protests that greeted its planned removal.
Consequently, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had presented a bill of N3tn to the Federal Executive Council in the move to extend the regime by 18 months.
The Chairman of the committee, Abdulkadir Abdullahi, in his opening address before the meeting went behind closed doors on Tuesday, read out the terms of reference of the panel.
Abdullahi said, “You may recall that on Wednesday, 26th January, 2022, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, constituted an Ad Hoc Committee on the Volume of Fuel Consumed Daily in the Country and mandated it as follows:
“To investigate and ascertain the actual daily consumption of Premium Motor Spirit in Nigeria and report back within eight weeks for further legislative action.
“That the committee should not restrict its findings to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (now NNPC Limited) records alone, but liaise with experts in the industry, transport workers and all other stakeholders to determine an independent finding for the benefit of Nigerians.”
Reading out the names of members of the committee, the chairman added, “I am personally delighted and grateful to the House for finding us worthy to be appointed as members of this committee and for selecting very experienced, active and hardworking Members of your calibre and finding me worthy to chair the committee.”
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