The House of Representatives yesterday continued its opposition to the ongoing changes at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), insisting that they remained illegal so long as the law setting up the oil corporation was not amended to reflect the changes.
It noted that a key solution was the Petroleum Industry Bill, which the House said President Muhammadu Buhari had yet to present to the National Assembly.
The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas, disclosed that the House had so far made three requests to Buhari to present the bill but that the President had not responded.
According to Namdas, Speaker Yakubu Dogara made the requests on behalf of the House.
“Mr. Speaker has so far called Mr. President three times to at least bring an executive PIB.
“We have not received the bill or his response, only to hear that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has unbundled the NNPC into seven units.
“What he has done is not in line with our laws”, Namdas added.
Speaking on the need to amend the NNPC Act, Namdas cited that the extant law provided law provided for a Petroleum Inspectorate Directorate, which was not among the seven just created by Kachikwu.
He explained that the House recognised the powers of the executive to introduce reforms, but clarified that the latter would achieve limited results without following “the due process of law.”
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