A call on the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, National Assembly to Reconstitute the Committee and remove Hon Ikenga as Chairman
It is an irrefutable fact that the Midstream and Downstream Sectors of the Nation’s petroleum Industry/Economy are plagued with a myriad of issues whose effects are negatively affecting the living standards of Nigerians. Every patriotic Nigerian and relevant stakeholder ought to place diligent hands on the plow to find lasting solutions to the imbroglio.
Therefore, it is with utmost dismay that the group of Concerned Nigerians for Good Governance having keenly followed the prevailing issues from the Nigerian Petroleum Resource sector, to the interventions by the National Assembly, particularly, the House of Representatives. Having made unbiased and independent investigations, we wish to condemn, without mincing words, the unethical antics of the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, Hon. Esosa Iyawe, and their cohorts.
It will be recalled that consequent upon a motion of urgent national importance recently moved by Hon. Chief Dr. Billy Osawaru representing the good people of Orhionmwon/Uhunmwode federal constituency, Edo State demanding a forensic investigation into the activities of all the actors in the midstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry, a joint investigative committee (midstream and downstream) was constituted by the Leadership of the House of Representatives. However, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere alongside his co-traveler has decided to circumvent the parliamentary due process and undermine the integrity of the House for selfish personal gains by resorting to blackmailing the Group Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation Limited (NNPCL) Mr Mele Kyari and the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Engr. Farouk Ahmed, with the intent to extort money from them.
Investigations also revealed that Hon. Ikenga and his group of conscripted 14 “honorable” members, including Hon. Eseosa Iyawe, representing Oredo federal constituency, Edo State, having failed to secure financial inducement from the aforementioned Executives have now recoursed to demanding their removal even while the investigation is still actively ongoing. To underscore the unpopularity of their unethical demands that tend to put the House in disrepute and undermine the integrity and its parliamentary procedures, a group of not less than 50 House of Representatives members a few days ago issued a press statement with Hon. Chief Billy Osawaru as spokesman. They appealed to Nigerians for calm and patience even in the face of the ongoing National End hardship protest. The group also acknowledged that the removal of fuel subsidies that have led to the associated hike in prices of petroleum products and cost of living for Nigerians are fundamental concerns for the House as an investigation is currently ongoing to unravel the issues in the oil and gas industry with a mandate to recommend further actions
Furthermore, the group of 50 lawmakers also condemned the calls in the media for the removal of the NNPCL and the NMDPRA Bosses sponsored by Hon. Ikenga and his group, describing it as premature considering the ongoing investigations. This position, which is intrinsically aimed at protecting the parliamentary culture and procedures of fair hearing during an investigation before decisions and further actions are taken, has since been corroborated/affirmed by another group of about 120 honorable members of the House. Our Sources in the green chambers of the National Assembly have it on good authority that Hon. Ikenga, Esosa Iyawe, and their cohorts, having failed in their dubious agenda, have now resorted to peddling the blatant falsehood that these groups of lawmakers interested in upholding the integrity of the House have been financially induced with millions of dollars.
As Nigerians, our concern is that Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere and his group are constituting themselves to a clog in the wheel of progress and the activities of the House Joint Investigative Committee (midstream and downstream). As one of the heads of the committee, his biased and unpatriotic stance is capable of impulging the task before the committee. We have immense faith in the committee’s capability to profer lasting recommendations/solutions (at the end of the investigation) to the challenges in the oil and gas sector of the Nation’s economy, for the good of government at all levels and for the benefits of the average Nigerian. We therefore call on the honorable speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abass, PhD to, as a matter of urgency, remove him as chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream). His actions are selfish, greedy, and corrupt. Also, his continuous stay as Chairman will be inimical to the progress of the ongoing investigation.
This Nation belongs to us all. We won’t sit still and watch corrupt elected officeholders in their attempt at primitive acquisition circumvent legitimate due processes and procedures that are aimed at ameliorating the living standard of Nigerians. The antics of Hon. Ikenga and his cohorts must be resisted.
Concerned Nigerians for Good Governance.
