“This your proposed figure for foreign trips in the 2018 fiscal year is too high and must be drastically reduced before presenting it to the senate for approval. Even the N60.2 million proposed for local trips in terms of monitoring is also on the high side and may also be reviewed downward.”
This is the latest legislative action in the Federal government’s efforts to reform the nation’s oil and gas industry. They bills are parts of the Petroleum Industry Bill, now split into several bills.
According to him, “We ought to have passed the PIGB yesterday, but because of the demise of Senator Isiaka Adeleke, we decided to hold a special session in his honour. That was why we could not pass it. But we have already agreed that the bill will be considered and passed between May 16 and 17.”
Alasadura said the committee was at the ministry as part of its oversight function to ascertain the level of compliance of the 2015 budget implementation, adding that the exercise was not to witch-hunt any body, but to assist the ministry to deliver on its mandate.
“There is a deliberate effort to keep things waiting so we don’t accentuate what is happening there,” he said, adding he hoped the bill could move forward again within three to five months.
