The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Review of
Fuel Pump Price yesterday announced plan to meet with officials of Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to confirm the veracity or otherwise of
claims by oil marketers that guidelines and charges by the corporation
contributed largely to per pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly
known as fuel.
The meeting, according to Chairman of the committee, Mr.
Nnana Igbokwe, would take place in few weeks.The panel is also planning to tour
the country’s major refineries, alongside few ones outside the country to
compare operations in the two environments.
According to Igbokwe, the committee is studying the various
oral and written submissions and would soon come up with a report to the House
that would justify or condemn the decision of Federal Government in increasing
prices of petroleum products.
Besides, the House has resolved to investigate the amount
collected so far by the Federal Government as stamp duty charges.In a motion by
Odeneye Kehinde (APC, Ogun), the lawmakers said it was not clear how much money
had been lodged in the account since January last year that the government
directed banks and other financial institutions to commence the collection of
N50 per transaction from their customers as stamp duty for money obtained
through electronic transfers, cash or cheques.
The Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, therefore, mandated the
Committee on Telecommunications to carry out the investigation with a view to
ascertaining the actual amount in the account and how secure they are, and
report back in four weeks.
In another development, the House has mandated its Committee
on National Intelligence to investigate the source of the N13 billion discovered
in a residential apartment at Osborne Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the
resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Gabriel
Kolawole.Meanwhile, aggrieved groups of Nigerian workers have warned the House
of Representatives against plan to remove the national minimum wage from the
exclusive list to the concurrent list in a bill allegedly being sponsored by
one of its members.
President, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Bobboi
Bala Kaigama, yesterday strongly condemned the call for the purported removal,
expressing the union’s determination to reject it with all forces.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Nigeria Employers’
Consultative Association (NECA) and United Labour Congress (ULC) have also said
it was better for government to review the minimum wage now that the country
was in recession and not at any other time.
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