NationalMirror Reps raise 14-man panel to probe oil theft TORDUE SALEM July 4, 2013 The House of Representatives yesterday set up a 14-man committee to investigate people or institutions behind oil theft in the Niger Delta. The committee headed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Hon. Bashir Adamu, also has as members, the Chairman, House Committee on Marine Transport, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Chairman, Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Dakuku Peterside, Chairman, Interior Committee, Hon. Bature Umar and Chairman, Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumuni Jibril. Other members are Hons. T. J. Yusuf, Sekonte Davies, Aisha Dahiru, Bamidele Opeyemi, Eddie Mbadiwe, Mustapha Dawaki, Aisha Dahiru and Yakubu Dogara. The House had earlier called on President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately overhaul the operations of the Joint Task Force, JTF, in the Niger Delta to ensure a more proactive security check of all oil installations in the country. Adopting a motion introduced by Aliyu Sani Madaki (PDP-Kano) on the issue yesterday, the parliament, without debate, resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to look into the propriety of contracting the protection of the country’s waterways and oil pipelines to private firms, among others. It also mandated the committee to investigate the allegations made by the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Patrick Akpobolekemi, of the involvement of influential people in oil theft and the fact that the organisation had seized ships belonging to the oil thieves and report back to the House within two weeks. The Federal Government had in the discharge of its constitutional responsibility, awarded pipeline surveillance contract to protect the country’s waterways so that crude oil theft could be curbed. But the House said engaging a private firm to man the country’s waterways had worsen the level of the oil theft thereby making its presence unnecessary. It noted the revelation by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who said the illegal oil theft (bunkering) could be as high as 400,000 barrels per day. This, according to her, led to a 17 per cent fall in official sales of the crude oil in international market.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 10:28:10 +0000