Reps To Investigate Private Refineries Delay

The House of Representatives Committee On Petroleum Resources

Downstream says it is to find out why private refineries licenced by the federal government has not started work nine years after they were granted permission.

Raising the motion on the floor of the House, Hon. Rose Okoli and 23 others lamented that the Federal Government was losing so much through subsidy and importation while companies licenced to refine the product locally have failed to commence work for about a decade.

“Government in 2002 issued licences to 18 private refineries and after nine years the private refineries have not commenced actual refining of petroleum.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has described the removal of fuel subsidy by the President as premature.

This is part of the recommendation approved by the House while considering the report of the 2012 to 2015 Median Team Fiscal Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper submitted by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The federal legislators adopted the exchange rate of N155 to a dollar for the period and 70 dollars as a benchmark price of crude oil for the period.

Similarly, a Lagos lawmaker, Mr. Hodewu Avoseh has called on the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to organise stakeholders forum and educate Nigerians on the need to remove the fuel subsidy.

Avozeh in an interview with newsmen said that the policy would be beneficial to the nation if the accruing funds were well-utilised.

The lawmaker representing Badagry in the Lagos State House of Assembly said the current subsidy favoured only a section of the country and advised the Federal government to utilise money accruing from it to repair the existing refineries, improve electricity supply and other basic infrastructure in the country.

Said he: “The removal is the best for Nigerians, both directly and indirectly, based on the benefit to the people but because the government failed to explain, that is why the opposition is so high.”

Avoseh observed that the agitation against removal of the subsidy might be sponsored by those who had been benefiting  from looting funds from the fuel subsidy and urged the Federal Government to sensitise Nigerians on the benefits of the removal in order to salvage the nation’s oil sector.

Shedie Okpara