The Nigerian Senate will embark on a landmark investigation into contracts granted for the revamping of government-owned refineries, from 2010 to 2023.
This development followed a motion presented by Senator Karimi Sunday of Kogi West during Tuesday’s Plenary Session.
To this effect, the Senate has established an Adhoc Committee, comprising of all relevant Senate committees, to lead the charge in this probe.
In his presentation at the upper legislative chamber on Tuesday, Senator Karimi Sunday brought the Senate’s focus to the state of the country’s refineries and the questionable Turn Around Maintenance Project from 2010 to date.
The Kogi lawmaker describes the situation with the refineries as a grave mismanagement of public finances, which he says has created doubts about Nigeria’s status as an oil-producing nation.
His investigation reveals an expenditure of more than N6 trillion on fuel subsidies and nearly twice that amount on the Turn Around Maintenance Projects in refineries across Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri during the decade under review.
Senator Sunday, and his colleagues have now committed to stopping this trend that fritters away the country’s resources.
Senator Karimi, who also is the chairman of the Senate Services Committee, also talked about the controversy surrounding the alleged N68 billion earmarked for new vehicles for 10th Senate members.
He clarified that this decision is the result of a thorough feasibility study conducted by the National Assembly’s Procurement Department.
