The Senate yesterday faulted the claim by the Presidency that the perennial fuel scarcity in the country was due to the delay in the approval of loan request before the National Assembly meant for the payment of a debt owed to oil marketers.
Spokesperson of the Senate, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (APC, Niger) said the claim was made by the Chief of Staff to the President Abba Kyari during a meeting with stakeholders in the oil industry.
Sabi said “The Senate would want members of the public to know that no such request has been made to it specifically requesting for a loan meant for payment to oil marketers.
“The Senate is aware that subsidy on petroleum had been cancelled by this administration; so we wonder which payment we are talking about now.”
He said they (senators) have been inundated with calls from oil marketers who were present at the meeting with Kyari to either prove his claim or retract it.
“It should be noted that a similar claim was made by the Minister of Finance on the foreign loan at a time the Presidency had not forwarded the request. The letter requesting for the foreign loan was submitted long after she was confronted with the fact.
“It is the opinion of the Senate that instead of resorting to false claims and shifting blames in the mould of ‘Blame Someone Else,’ both the executive and legislature should work together to solve this unnecessary fuel crisis which is making life more difficult for our people.
“That is why members of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) were mandated by the Senate President to suspend their recess and embark on oversight visits to key areas in the sector while it would tomorrow (Thursday, Jan. 4th) hold an investigative public hearing with all stakeholders aimed at finding solution to the problem of fuel scarcity,” he said.
