Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada (SDP, Nasarawa West) were involved in a heated exchange on Tuesday over the issue of the Port Harcourt refinery during plenary.
This followed the announcement last week by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) that the Port Harcourt refinery had resumed operations.
However, the declaration has been met with controversy, with many Nigerians, including stakeholders in the oil industry, disputing the claim and asserting that the refinery is not yet fully operational.
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In response to the issue, Akpabio declared that the Senate would establish an ad hoc committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the purported start-up of the refinery.
The matter was raised by Senator Wadada during a debate on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
Wadada expressed concerns about “technicalities in the operations of the Port Harcourt refinery” and called for the Senate’s intervention to verify the accuracy of the claims.
Akpabio, however, countered that the government had already been praised for the refinery’s launch.
He advised Senator Wadada to raise his concerns formally as a motion during plenary, rather than presenting them as a social media post.
Wadada, however, said to Akpabio, “with due respect, don’t associate me with the issue of social media.”
The Nasarawa Senator, visibly frustrated, revealed that he had submitted a written concern to Akpabio three months ago regarding a different revenue tax issue, but the Senate President had yet to take action on it.
In response, Akpabio assured Wadada that he had reviewed the document but advised him to formally present his concerns as a motion during a plenary session.
Akpabio also stated that the Senate would establish an ad hoc committee during its executive session to investigate the status of the Port Harcourt refinery.
He added that the committee’s report would be discussed during a future plenary session.
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