Can 10th National Assembly lay petroleum industry challenges to rest?

By Kingsley Okoye

Nigeria is a leading producer of crude in Africa and a major crude exporter in the world. Oil receipts are the major source of revenue source for the country, contributing more than 80 per cent of the country’s income.

Available records from the Statista showed that Nigeria’s crude oil reserves stood at 36.9 billion barrels and valued at roughly 74 million metric tons.

The crude oil products such as premium motor spirit, otherwise known as petrol, diesel, aviation fuel known in the industry as Jet A1 are imported.

A cardinal part of President Bola Tinubu’s monetary and fiscal policies is directed at stimulating additional revenue and foreign exchange earnings with ultimate goal of improving livelihood of Nigerians.

The policies are also designed to stabilise exchange rate, reduce inflation, lower interest rate and encourage investments.

The petroleum sector is key in achieving these aims because virtually all economic policies revolve around it.

However, recent developments in the oil Industry seem to threaten that ambition as accusation and counter accusations bothering on corruption and sabotage have dominate news about the sector.

But more disturbing is recent ugly narrative of alleged importation of hazardous and substandard petroleum products into the country.

The issue of toxic petroleum product importation came to public space when the Senator representing Cross River South Senatorial District. Sen.Asuquo Ekpenyong, moved a motion on alleged toxic petroleum products importation and distribution.

Ekpenyong, had at a Senate plenary on July 3, 2024, sponsored a motion for Senate to probe alleged importation of hazardous petroleum products into the country.

Following a comprehensive debate on the motion, Senate consequently constituted an ad hoc committee for an investigation on the matter.

The committee members, as announced by President of thee Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio were fifteen in number with Leader of the Senate, Sen.Opeyemi Bamidele as chairman.

Alongside the onerous mandate to investigate alleged importation of toxic petroleum products, the committee was also mandated to do a comprehensive probe of the sector with a view to ending decades of irritating narratives.

However, the one million question, agitating minds of Nigerians is the ability of the 10th National Assembly to end the perceived issues in the sector via the investigation, given outcome of previous investigative hearings on the sector.

Interestingly, Bamidele, speaking in Abuja at an interactive session with key stakeholders in the sector re-emphasised the concerns of Nigerians on the upcoming investigation asmost of them have ended up has jamborees.

He said: “Will this investigative hearing end up like the previous ones?

“Can the Senate really address the challenges in the petroleum industry given the entrenched interests of some powerful interests?.

“These are some of the questions the media have been asking in their analyses and reports since the constitution of this ad-hoc committee on July 3.”

Bamidele said the senate had been carrying out its mandate to resolve deep-seated challenges that had hitherto obstructed to smooth functioning of petroleum industry for decades.

He urged all parties to jettison their differences as the committee embarks on a journey to uncover the truth about the goings on in the sector.

“I therefore, assure you that we are all committed to conducting a thorough and impartial investigation across all areas outlined in the senate resolution of July 3”, he said.

Bamidele said no one concerned would be exempted from the scrutiny, adding that the committee’s collective goal was to serve overriding public interest.

According to him, it is truly a challenging period in the nation given that supply of refined petroleum products has been irregular and problematic.

“The long queues at filling stations are also a testament to this challenge.

“A situation, where we now depend almost entirely on importation of these products, even when we daily supply global oil market’s no fewer than two per cent of its crude oil needs, is to say the least, highly worrisome.

Bamidele said to ensure broad participation, the committee has created a platform for the general public and stakeholders to submit memoranda before the public hearings that was slated to hold from Sept. 10 – 12.

“We have accepted this huge responsibility with the resolve to make a difference.

“We are also staking our integrity and safety to develop an efficient and functional regime that guarantees transparent management of strategic national resources,’’ he said.

Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, said that the oil sector was bedeviled by lots of misinformation.

“This investigation will do a whole lot of justice not only to the Senate but we in the Executive and key leaders in the sector.

“Because of the fundamental nature of this investigation that has to do with alleged economic sabotage with importation of substandard products into the country, we urge the Senate to ensure we do a live broadcast,” he said.

Similarly, at a news conference organised by the committee, Sen. Abdul Ningi said he understood reservations and pessimism of Nigerians toward outcome of upcoming investigation.

“With high level of integrity of members of this committee, we are assuring you that at the end of the day we are going to have a very solid recommendations to move Nigeria forward’’, he said..

Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi said from what he glimpsed from media reports, Nigerians were skeptic about the potential outcome of the investigation and its implementation.

“We are people that are very much concerned with our integrity. We are here to go deep down into what is happening to see how we can add value to the governance of this country”, Ningi said.

Analysts say the capacity of the committee to function rightly, given the pedigree, strength of character, quality of public service records and antecedents of its members was not in doubt, hence the expectation that it will leave above board.

Should the members of the committee justify the high rating, the perception is that investigation would be the beginning of an end to the perceived challenges in the industry.

Perception is one thing, reality is another. In the event that the latter is the case, what policy makers and implementers will do with the investigation outcome is another kettle of fish.

Nigerians cannot afford to wait any longer to be rescued from the troubles inflicted on them by oil and gas, which in other climes is a source of blessing