The 9th Senate, has on Monday, stated that the President Muhammadu Buhari Federal Government will have to justify the fresh demand of N3 trillion, for the extension of the subsidy on petrol, or it will not get the approval of the National Assembly,
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ajibola Basiru, made this known, against the backdrop of the controversy surrounding the actual volume of petrol which Nigerians consume daily.
The government is billed to present Executive Bills to the Parliament to amend the 2022 Appropriation Act and the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, as part of the move to extend the subsidy regime, following the protests that greeted its planned removal.
Already, the House of Representatives, last week, resolved to investigate the correct daily consumption volume of petrol by Nigerians, and the actual state of the nation’s four Refineries. The Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, had set up two ad hoc Committees to carry out the probes separately, within six and eight weeks, respectively.
Speaking on Sunday, the Senate Spokesman stated that whatever the Executive proposes would not enjoy automatic approval.
When asked if the Senate would determine the actual volume of products consumed daily before approving the coming requests, Senator Basiru said: “Every request made to the National Assembly will be scrutinised by the relevant Committees, before we take a decision.
“We will scrutinise all the requests and see whether they are justifiable or not, in line with our constitutional mandate and oversight function.”
When asked if it would not be automatic for the National Assembly to approve the requests, Senator Basiru stated: “It is not automatic, of course! We will scrutinise whatever they bring, and see whether they are justifiable.”
The Chairman of the ad hoc Committee set up by the House to determine the actual petrol consumption volume, Hon. Abdulkadir Abdullahi, said that the Panel would commence work this week.
More news later…