APRIL 16, 2012 BY JOHN AMEH, ABUJA
The report of the fuel subsidy probe will feature prominently on the agenda of the House of Representatives as the lawmakers reconvene on Tuesday after a two-week Easter vacation.
Our correspondent learnt on Sunday that the House might list the report for submission between Wednesday and Thursday.
The rescheduled investigation into the near-collapse of the Nigerian Capital Market will also start on Tuesday.
Our correspondent also learnt that a third issue on the agenda of this week is a plan to pick former President Olusegun Obasanjo up on his claim that the National Assembly initiated the controversial third term agenda during his tenure.
House sources said the Chairman of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Subsidy Regime, Mr. Farouk Lawan, had reportedly briefed the leadership of the House on the committee’s work.
Lawan was said to have been given the nod to present the report this week.
A source stated, “The ad-hoc committee has been asked to liaise with the House Committee on Rules and Business to agree on the appropriate time this week to lay the report.
“But, taken the fact that the House will reconvene on Tuesday, it is not likely that such a sensitive matter will be listed that day.
“It could be Wednesday or Thursday; it may even be next Tuesday when almost all members would have returned.
“What is not in doubt is that the report of the committee is ready and will be taken as the House reconvenes.”
Lawan addressed his colleagues in plenary before the House proceeded on vacation on March 29, explaining why the report was delayed.
He blamed it on “conflicting responses” to irregularities uncovered during the probe by various Federal Government agencies, fuel marketers and contractors.
Lawan said the development further tasked the committee to find a way of resolving the conflicting responses before presenting the report.
The session, which was presided by the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, had yielded to Lawan’s request for more time.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, said, “All issues regarding the fuel subsidy probe were deferred till the resumption of the House (Tuesday).”
He added that the House had assured Nigerians that it would “take the report immediately on resumption and has no intentions to do otherwise”.
The spokesman also confirmed that the eight-member panel on the capital market probe would start sitting this week as rescheduled.
The panel, headed by Mr. Ibrahim E-Sudi, was set up on March 20 following the bribery allegations that rocked the investigation, initially conducted by the House Committee on Capital Market and other Institutions.
Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh, alleged that the chairman of the committee, Mr. Herman Hembe, demanded N39m from SEC to sponsor the exercise.
El-Sudi confirmed on Sunday that his panel was ready for the assignment, adding, “We have received several memoranda from stakeholders.”
The Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, said would raise a “point of personal explanation” to table Obasanjo’s comments on the floor for debate.
Zakari confirmed that any member was free to raise a matter on privilege and would be “examined by members on its merit before reaching a decision”.
SOURCE: The Punch, 16 April 2012. http://www.punchng.com/
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