06 February 2014, Lagos – The Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources, Downstream, Hon. Dakuku Peterside, has called on Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) and Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to redouble their efforts towards ensuring that petroleum products continue to be available to the people in the country.
He made the plea early this week in Abuja during an oversight visit to the premises of PEF and PPPRA.
Peterside who was accompanied by members of his committee during the visit pleaded with the agencies to do everything possible to mitigate any problem that may further lead to the suffering of Nigerians.
According to him, anybody in this season who is entrusted with resources belonging to the public and leadership responsibility in whatever capacity must exhibit first-rate dedication and seriousness because Nigerians are watching.
At PEF, Peterside and his colleagues were received by the Executive Secretary of the agency, Adefunke Sharon Kasali, and members of PEF’s management board.
During the visit, Peterside commended the efforts of the agency and challenged the leadership to do more for the progress of the nation.
“We have observed tremendous improvement in the management board. My colleagues and I are concerned about developments in the downstream sector because anything that happens there affects everybody. Therefore PEF plays a very important role in our daily lives and we must give you all the necessary support,” he said.
Peterside charged PEF leadership to brace up and prepare for a future that will obviously come with more challenges. According to him, “if PEF is not repositioned, Nigeria will suffer in view of the fact that we are in transition to the Petroleum Industry Bill regime. But our business is to ensure that Nigerians do not suffer. Therefore if you have challenges, we are here to make sure that they are solved.”
In the same vein, in an interactive session with the leadership of PPRA, the committee charged PPPRA to sustain the present tempo so as to serve Nigerians better.
Peterside and his colleagues praised the agency for ensuring that fuel scarcity became a thing of the past with the disappearance of long queues at the filling stations and for prudent management of resources.
“Your assignment is critical to this country. You monitor and administer subsidy. All of us benefit from subsidy administration in Nigeria and to save N409 billion in one year is highly commendable. We are not where we should be as a people therefore a lot more work still needs to be done. That is why we are committed to the passage of the PIB”, Peterside said.
The interactive session that focused extensively on price disparity, scarcity in some parts of Nigeria, the unresolved issue of kerosene, among others enabled the Executive Secretary of PPPRA Reginald Stanley to give account of the progress made so far by the agency with a promise to revisit all the outstanding issues.
Stanley told the visiting House of Representatives members that the agency has will continue to live up to expectations.
– This Day