The House of Representatives on Wednesday set up a 14-man committee to investigate the quantity of fuel consumption in the country daily and determine the state of the nation’s refineries.

During the plenary, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker of the House, said the development became necessary following the planned removal of subsidy by the Federal Government.

Mr Gbajabiamila said it was important to know the state of the nation’s refineries and the planned subsidy removal to understand whether the planned removal was right or wrong.

The 14-man committee on the amount of fuel consumed per day will be chaired by Abdulganiyu Johnson (APC-Lagos), while that of the state of Nigeria refineries is to be chaired by Rep. Abdullahi Ningi (APC-Bauchi).

Following the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which became an Act after it was assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, it was expected that subsidy would go.

Worried by the incessant planned removal of subsidy and the state of the nation’s refineries, the House decided to set up the 14-man committee for each to investigate the issues.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the Federal Government was not in a hurry to remove subsidies on petroleum products.

The president, on Tuesday, approved the suspension of the removal of fuel subsidy until further notice and proposed an 18 months extension to the National Assembly for the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) that was billed to go into effect this February. 

(NAN)