Federal lawmakers aim to hold the executive to ransom if it delays to act
The House of Representatives has pledged to ensure the executive arm of government implements the outcome of the fuel subsidy probe which calls for huge refunds to government coffers.
More than N1 trillion is to be refunded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and marketers who received government funds without importing products between 2009 and 2011.
The recommendations, made available on Wednesday, has elicited doubts among Nigerians who draw parallels between the more than 200-page report and the several past reports left un implemented.
House spokesperson, Zakari Mohammed, said on Thursday that lawmakers hoped the reports will be implemented based on the mutual understanding between the legislature and the executive and in the pursuit of good governance and development.
If there was a default, the House will “hold the executive to ransom,” he said. “What we have done is a report and our resolution does not have the force of law. But when the executive will come to us, we’ll say if you don’t do this, we will not do that.”
Farouk Lawan, who led the House investigation, said the committee faced immense pressure from various interest groups which sought to overturn the recommendations.
“It was not easy for us to keep ourselves and do the job but we were aware that it was a Nigerian project,” he said. “There was pressure from so many quarters, pressure from those in government, from marketers; some were even going through members of the House to reach us.”
He, however, denied being offered monetary bribes, and attributed the success of his committee to its slim membership.
“There was no antics they did not try,” he said. “Some of them took paid adverts to create impression there was division among members of the House over the issue. Fortunately for us, the number was small and it was easy to manage.”
