The House of Representatives has set up a 14-member committee to investigate the quantity of fuel consumed in the country daily and determine the state of the nation’s refineries.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, disclosed this during the plenary session on Wednesday.
He said the move became necessary following planned removal of subsidy by the federal government.
Mr Gbajabiamila said it was important to know the state of the nation’s refineries and the planned subsidy removal to understand whether the planned removal was right or wrong.
The 14-member committee on the amount of fuel consumed per day will be chaired by Abdulganiyu Johnson (APC-Lagos), while that of the state of Nigeria refineries is to be chaired by Abdullahi Ningi (APC-Bauchi).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that following the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which became an Act after it was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, it was expected that subsidy would be removed.
Worried by the incessant planned removal of subsidy and the state of the nation’s refineries, the House decided to set up the committees to investigate the issues.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the federal government was not in a hurry to remove subsidy on petroleum products.
The president, on Tuesday approved the suspension of the removal of fuel subsidy until further notice and proposed 18 months extension to the National Assembly for the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) that was billed to go into effect this February.
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