By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the National Assembly will soon resume the probe of the alleged saboteurs in the oil and gas sector.
Bamidele stated this in a New Year message titled, “Another Year of Limitless Opportunities,” and made it available to journalists in Abuja.
He listed the consideration of the N49.7trn 2025 budget, the tax reform bills, and the amendment of the 1999 Constitution, among other items that would be on the legislative agenda of the National Assembly in the New Year.
He said the National Assembly will dutifully sustain the drive of President Bola Tinubu’s government to deepen global best practices in the country’s petroleum industry.
The Senate Leader said, “This is the rationale behind the Senate Ad-hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry.
“Considering the significance of the Committee, the National Assembly has initiated the process to constitute a joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives to look more decisively and incisively into diverse issues spurring infraction and sabotage in the petroleum.
“We recognise that several unfinished tasks are pending before the two chambers of the National Assembly. However, consistent with the principles of rational choice, we address each of these tasks according to national priority or significance.
“Consequently, the next few weeks will be devoted to scrutinizing the Appropriation Bill, 2025; Tax Reform Bills, 2024, and investigating economic sabotage in the petroleum industry.
“We will also work on amendment of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and key economic reform initiatives that have been in the pipeline to open up Nigeria for real businesses that will throw up limitless opportunities,” he said.
He added that the constructive collaboration the National Assembly has been having with the executive since June 2023 is already yielding positive results and repositioning the nation’s economy for the benefit of Nigeria and Nigerians.
He said, “With the multi-tiered interventions by the Presidency and National Assembly, for instance, Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals commenced operations within the 2024 fiscal year. Likewise, Port Harcourt Refinery and Warri Refining & Petrochemicals Company are back to operations after almost two decades of dysfunction.
“The operations of these refineries are a testament to the political will of the government of All Progressives Congress to reverse all negative trends that plague our economy and polity.
“Beyond the downstream petroleum sector, the National Assembly has leveraged its multi-tiered interventions in virtually all strategic sectors to reverse the regression the country recorded between 2011 and 2023.
“The approach has spurred steady growth in our gross domestic products throughout 2024. It has sustainably translated to 2.98% growth in the first quarter, 3.19 percent in the second quarter, 3.46 percent in the third quarter, and may be as high as 4% in the fourth quarter.
“Also, our debt-service-revenue ratio has shrunk from 97 percent in June 2023 to 65% in November 2024, and I believe the margin will further shrink in the New Year we began on Wednesday.
“Each of these records is indeed a great leap forward, and our parliamentary agenda that emphasises strategic collaboration among government arms without prejudice to our constitutionally guaranteed independence has made it attainable.
“All these outcomes simply mean Nigeria is now out of the vicious cycle of fuel importation that cost her $600m, which annually translates to $7.2bn.
“It also means the operations of these refineries will significantly reduce undue pressure on the naira, guarantee stability in the foreign exchange market, and trigger an unprecedented crash of consumer price index, often used to measure inflation”.
