The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to resume regular supply of petroleum products to the floating mega station at Bonny, Rivers State.
The directive was also handed down to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
This was sequel to a motion by Rep Awaji-Inombek Abiante (Rivers-PDP) at the plenary in Abuja.
Moving the motion, Abiante noted that the Federal Government in 2005, in response to the plight and pitiable condition of communities in the riverine areas of Nigeria, occasioned by severe difficulty in getting petroleum products, and sometimes at exorbitant and unauthorised prices, directed the construction of floating mega stations to ameliorate the situation.
He said in order to give effect to the laudable intervention, about N700m-N900m was invested in building each station with an installed capacity of 300,000 litres to ensure regular supply of premium motor spirit (PMS), automotive gas oil (AGO) and dual purpose kerosene (DPK) at approved retail prices in the creeks to ease the difficulty of the riiverine communities and to boost their commercial activities.
The lawmaker, however, said that for over a year, NNPC had refused or neglected to stock the floating mega station at Bonny in Rivers with products, thereby defeating the noble intent of the government.
”And as a result, this has plunged the entire communities dependent on the said station into untold hardship, difficulty in accessing petroleum products and subjecting them to exploitative ‘black market’ prices and the hazards of adulterated products.
”We are worried that the gains of price stability, relative peace from restiveness, ease of living and doing business, and the sense of belonging has been lost in the riverine communities.
”We are disturbed that illegal bunkering, adulterated products, ‘black market’ and other related crimes are now finding opportunity to thrive in the area,” he remarked.
The House, however, supported the motion, when the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, put it on a voice vote, urging the NNPC/NNPC Retail Limited and the supervising ministry to resume the product supply.
It also mandated the Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and Legislative Compliance to work out modalities for ensuring compliance and report back within four (4) weeks for legislative action. (NAN)
