E.E.R: PDP Leadership, Oil Marketers Move to Scuttle Oil Subsidy report

PDP Leadership, Oil Marketers Move to Scuttle Oil Subsidy report

Published on Sunday, 22 April 2012 19:22

Written by Palmer Ogheneyole Nathaniel

In a last minute bid to protect the interest of some of its members and allies indicted in the recently released report of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on the Monitoring of the Subsidy Regime, the National leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has immediately summoned all its members in the Green

Chambers for an emergency meeting slated for tomorrow.

It has also emerged that efforts to scuttle the report of Ad Hoc Committee is in high gear as some indicted oil marketing firms and importers have been lobbying members of the National Assembly and presidency to halt its consideration and adoption by the lower chamber on Tuesday.

Farouk Lawan

In a letter addressed to the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwa by the National Chairman of the Party, Alhaji Bamaga Tukur, the party hammered on the need to resolve several undisclosed issues affecting the members, which he claimed were immediate.

Although the issue of subsidy probe wasn't included in the letter, but a source in the House of Representatives revealed that this last minute move is not unconnected to the listing of top Party members and their allies in the subsidy scam.

In the report submitted by the Ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives set-up to look into the subsidy matter, Former National Chairman of the Party, Alhaji Ahmadu Alli was indicted and asked to return large sums of money to the tune of N313 billion as part of the funds fraudulently acquired from the Federal Government in the name of Oil Subsidy.

However, the House has fixed Tuesday 24th April, 2012 for consideration of the entire report.

Indicted Oil Marketers Lobby to Scuttle Adoption of Subsidy Report

The oil marketers, some of whom have sponsored advertisements in some national dailies denying complicity in the fuel import and subsidy scam, were said to have approached some lawmakers at the weekend "to plead their innocence" and solicit their assistance.

There were also indications that some members of the House were not comfortable with the process of releasing the report, especially its alleged leak to the media and some interest groups prior to its submission last Wednesday.

This is even as indications have also emerged that whereas the original report was said to have indicted the oil companies belonging to Femi Otedola and the billionaire Aliko Dangote, the leaked report was silent on the roles in the oil subsidy scam. This is also said to be raising eyebrows among some lawmakers.

Rule 72(a) of the Standing Orders of the House of Representatives states, “If any member of the House who being a member of the committee of the House publishes to any person not being a member of such committee any evidence taken by the committee before it has been reported to the House, shall be guilty of contempt of the House and if investigated and found culpable by the Ethics and Privileges Committee, the House may by a resolution reprimand such a member or suspend him from the services of the House.”

Last week, as soon as the report was formally presented to the House at plenary, Hon. Aliyu Madaki, representing Dala Federal Constituency, Kano State had raised a point of order on a matter of privilege and requested that the House should dissolve into an executive (closed door) session.

During the executive session, some members were said to have expressed their anger over some aspects of the report which had been leaked, with a source revealing that the ad-hoc committee chairman, Hon. Farouk Lawan, was taken to task over the alleged leakage of the report.

But Lawan, the source added, managed to wriggle out of the allegation of releasing the report to the media without due authorisation.

The aggrieved oil marketers are intent to capitalis on the seeming lapse and anger by some legislators over the leaked report to push forward their own agenda.

It was gathered that some lawmakers have started to push the argument that Lawan had breached the process of releasing the report and are accusing him of seeking cheap popularity by granting interviews on the report when he had not formally unveiled it in the chamber.

“The oil marketers have begun to infiltrate the House and they are not prepared to leave anything to chance. They know that this report would be considered next week and they want to make sure they reach out to a sizeable number of lawmakers to protect their interests during the exercise.

“They are even threatening to go to court over the report and that could lead to another dilemma and possibly delay the implementation of the report,” a lawmaker said.

Some lawmakers have also faulted the report and accused its authors of inconsistency.

They claimed that in one breath the ad-hoc committee said subsidy breeds corruption while in another breath it recommended the payment of over N800 billion to marketers in the 2012 fiscal year.