The Senate has postponed the public hearing on the suspected sabotage of the petroleum industry.
The Senate noted that the hearing was postponed to allow for more extensive talks with stakeholders whose advice and participation would be valuable in completing the investigation.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, officials from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Ports Authority have all been summoned to appear before the committee at a public hearing scheduled for September 10-12, 2024.
Other institutions invited include the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Navy, International Oil Companies, Dangote Group, Capital Oil, and modular refineries.
The upper house also highlighted legislative imperatives to strengthen due diligence in conducting the investigative hearing as another rationale for delaying it.
Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), the Senate Leader and Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, provided these reasons in a statement issued on Sunday.
The Senate had set up the ad hoc committee to investigate billions spent on maintaining the nation’s refineries, spotlight regulatory agencies’ overpayment to transporters, and unravel the alleged importation of hazardous petroleum products and dumping of substandard diesel into the country.
