The Chairman Senate Committee on Downstream Petroleum sector, Senator Sumaila Kawu (Kano South) has, for the umpteenth time, reiterated the resolve of the Senate that Nigerian public refineries must work to bring succor to the people.
By Haruna Salami
The Chairman Senate Committee on Downstream Petroleum sector, Senator Sumaila Kawu (Kano South) has, for the umpteenth time, reiterated the resolve of the Senate that Nigerian public refineries must work to bring succor to the people.
Rising from a strategic meeting of the committee to chart a way forward for the sector, Kawu said generally if you look at the challenges facing the country today, it boils down to the petroleum sector crisis.
“ We want to have a situation where we refine our crude in Nigeria, reduce the pressure on the exchange rate for the economy to move forward”.
As a priority, the committee has resolved to take a tour of the refineries before inviting the leadership of the downstream petroleum sector to have an interactive session with them and agree among themselves on how to revive the refineries to get back to work.
According to him, the committee has agreed that getting the refineries to work again will reduce petroleum pump price, which will make “Nigerians to start smiling again”.
He said the crucial meeting shows how serious the Senate is on the matter, adding that “we are the representatives of the people, everybody is feeling it in his body. We must do something drastically to end the suffering of Nigerians”.
Senator Sumaila Kawu, who is also the Chairman Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating turn around maintenance (TAM) of Nigerian four refineries that has consumed over N11 trillion naira since 2010 said the two assignments are almost the same, except that the Ad-hoc committee has additional responsibility outside the purview of the Downstream Petroleum committee.
He said after fixing the refineries, the Ad-hoc committee will hold a public hearing to ask Nigerians of their views on the future of the refineries: do we continue to retain them as government owned companies or give them to private investors.
He said they have agreed that the two committees will work together to bring results to Nigerians, adding that “all the Senate is looking for results”.
It will be recalled that the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari has told the whole world that the Port Harcourt Refinery would come on stream December 2023, but has shifted the date several times after without success.
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