NNPCL, Dangote Refinery: Senate postpones public hearing on sabotage in Petroleum Sector

The Senate has postponed the public hearing for the alleged sabotage in the petroleum industry in tackling the lingering crisis in the sector.

The Leader of the Senate and Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee to investigate the crisis, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele made this known in a statement on Sunday.

Recall that the Senate had invited some key stakeholders in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector to appear before the committee at a public hearing scheduled for September 10 to 12, 2024.

The stakeholders include the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dangote Refinery and the Nigeria Ports Authority.

However, as an update, the Senate explained that the hearing was postponed “to consult more widely with expanded stakeholders within and without the petroleum industry and legislative exigencies to further deepen due diligence in the conduct of the investigative hearing.

“While we deeply regret all inconveniences it may have caused all the stakeholders collectively or individually, this decision was taken purely and solely in the national interest.”

This comes amid the recent petrol pump price hike by NNPCL which the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and other Nigerians have called for its immediate reversal.