TheCable

The house of representatives has asked the federal government to purchase compressed natural gas-powered mass transit buses as palliative measures to cushion the effect of the removal of petrol subsidy on the masses. 

The lower legislative chamber also asked the government to introduce an intermodal, regional and national transport system to ease the mass movement of people across the country.

The green chamber made the demand at Thursday’s plenary session, following the adoption of the report of an ad hoc committee set up to investigate the petrol subsidy regime in Nigeria from 2013–2022.

In the past few days, the removal of subsidy on petrol has been on the front burner of national discourse, with the commodity trading above N500 per litre.

Below are the recommendations of the house of representatives to the federal government:

• That the federal government should outrightly remove subsidies on all petroleum products.
• That the federal government should immediately design measures and palliatives to cushion the effects of the subsidy removal on  Nigerians effective from this year 2023 through the provision and procurement of CNG buses as an alternative transport system with cheaper fuel consumption. The government should also introduce intermodal, regional and national transport system to ease the mass movement of people across the country.
• That the Nigerian Midstream/Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission should issue stricter and most appropriate regulations as provided in the PIA to ensure that Nigerians are not short-changed through profiteering.
• That the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation Committee should lead a reconciliation meeting between NNPCL, FIRS and JVCs and the commission on the utilisation of their crude entitlements.
• With the total deregulation of the sector, all the agencies involved in crude lifting/security should have a representative with the Nigerian Navy as a lead agency to physically assess and document daily crude production and lifting.
• That the federal government should as a matter of urgency, liaise with the national assembly to fashion out critical areas of economic development, where the additional revenue from the proposed subsidy removal will be appropriately utilised.
• Further investigations through a forensic audit by the office of the auditor-general of the federation be made to ascertain whether the N413billion borrowed from the CBN for subsidy payments was refunded after the passage and assent of the 2015 budget as earlier approved by the president and the report of the auditor-general be submitted to the house for further legislative action.
• With the subsidy removal, the federal government should forthwith suspend all direct sales direct purchase (DSDP) contracts. NNPCL should act by the provision of the PIA to ensure that the country is not shortchanged in production, lifting and sales of crude.
• That the Nigeria Customs Service and Weight and Measures Department of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment be equipped to ascertain the actual daily crude oil lifting from the country for proper checks and balances.
• That the NEITI Act, 2007 be amended by the national assembly to be in tune with global best practices.
• That given the constrain of the committee and overlapping events, the national assembly (HR) standing or ad-hoc committees be saddled with such responsibility to conduct full-scale investigation on the defaulting oil companies and MDAs that have not met the expectations of the committee to ascertain their level of involvement or otherwise and further protect the commonwealth of the country.