THE Senate has deferred its investigation into the alleged sabotage in the petroleum industry, citing the need for wider consultations with stakeholders whose input and participation will add value to the conclusion of the investigative hearing.
The upper chamber also cited legislative exigencies aimed at further deepening due diligence in the conduct of the investigative hearing as another reason for postponing the hearing.
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 the development.
This newspaper reports that the Senate had set up the ad-hoc committee to investigate billions spent on maintaining the nation’s 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.
