Efforts by senators of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to convince the Senate to summon President Muhammadu Buhari to give reasons for the ongoing fuel scarcity in the country, were frustrated, yesterday, by their counterparts in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.<\/p>\n
The PDP senators, who berated the President\u2019s handling of current economic situation in the country, insisted that he be made to a appear before the Senate to give explanations on the cause of the fuel scarcity and how he intended to solve the issue as Minister of Petroleum.<\/p>\n
Their frustrated efforts came following a motion, tagged: \u201cThe current fuel scarcity all around the country and the need to urgently resolve the crisis,\u201d sponsored by Senator Jibrin Barau, APC, Kano North and 23 other senators, which was debated upon.
\nSpeaking through Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, PDP, Abia South, the opposition senators accused the President of mismanaging the country\u2019s oil sector, causing untold hardship for Nigerians, barely six months after being in the saddle as president.
\nBut the Senate, in a reaction to the development, said the President could not be summoned even as Minister of Petroleum.
\nThe red chamber, reacting through its chairman on Media and Publicity, Aliyu Sabi, insisted that the fact that the President was overseeing the Petroleum ministry as a substantive minister, did not make him to be easily summoned like other ministers.
\nAbaribe had, while contributing to the motion, urged the Senate to summon President Buhari to explain why the Federal Government was yet to find solutions to the continued fuel problem in spite of its claim that the refineries in the country were working.
\nHe said the unnecessary hardship occasioned by the scarcity could only be resolved if lawmakers were adequately briefed on the true state of affairs. Senator Abaribe\u2018s submission received wide support from other PDP senators, as they all hailed him.
\nSenator Abaribe supported his call with a prayer for adoption but it was defeated when the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, put it up for a voice vote.
\nAt this point, the APC Senators, who were more in number, defeated their PDP colleagues with overwhelming shout of \u201cyes\u201d against the PDP\u2019s \u201cnay.\u201d
\nPresident cannot be summoned \u2014Senate
\nEarlier, in his motion, Senator Barau regretted that Nigerians were going through untold hardship following the lingering fuel problem.
\n\u201cWe are worried that the scarcity is creating an untold hardship to our citizens who have to pay higher prices for these products especially petrol. We are convinced that the current situation is not in tune with the desire of the progressively inclined government to bring succour to Nigerians in all spheres of their lives,\u201d Senator Jibrin noted.
\nBut at a briefing after the plenary session, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Aliyu Sabi, explained why President Buhari could not be summoned by the Senate.<\/p>\n
He said as the Commander-in-Chief, it was wrong to invite him to appear before the Senate, despite the fact that he was the Minister of Petroleum.
\nSenator Sabi said in the place of President Buhari, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu would be summoned to brief the Senate on plans put in place by the Federal Government to end the fuel scarcity.
\nSenator Gbenga Ashafa, APC, Lagos East, while also contributing, called for the approval of the supplementary budget which he noted, contained the amount proposed for payment of subsidy to the marketers. He pleaded that the issue be treated with uttermost urgency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Efforts by senators of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to convince the Senate to summon President Muhammadu Buhari to give reasons for the ongoing fuel scarcity in the country,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n