Fuel crisis: Senate summons Okonjo-Iweala, Allison-Madueke, NNPC, others

May 23, 2015 

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
| credits: File copy

The Joint Senate Committees on Petroleum Resources (Upstream and Downstream) on Friday asked the Minister of Finance/Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo – Iweala, and her counterpart in the Petroleum Resources Ministry, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, to appear before it on Monday next week over the lingering fuel crisis in the country.

Also summoned were 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 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 said the Deputy Senate Majority Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, had drawn 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 also urged the Senate to look into the matter with a view to finding 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 Senate 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.