There was anger and discomfort in the Senate following the refusal of the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to attend the public hearing held on the Petroleum Industry Bill on Monday, June 4.
The three-day hearing which began on Monday at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, was organised by the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) on three bills, namely the Petroleum Industry Administration Bill, 2018, Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill, 2018, and the Petroleum Host and Impacted Communities Bill, 2018.
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), Senator Kabiru Marafa, at the opening ceremony, decried the low turnout of government officials at the event.
Saraki particularly decried the non-appearance of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation officials.
It was gathered that heads of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the CBN and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria were also absent from the event and were not represented.
Saraki, while declaring the event opened, explained that the public hearing was to gather opinions on the components of the PIB.
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