The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Downstream Petroleum, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere, has expressed concern over the failure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to provide adequate information on the rehabilitation, revival and operations of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries.

Ugochinyere spoke when he received a delegation of Petroleum Engineering students from the North Central Zone, where he disclosed that the committee had yet to receive any substantive briefing, documents or relevant information from the national oil company on the state of its downstream operations, particularly the rehabilitation and revival of the refineries.

The lawmaker said the committee had written to the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPCL, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, as well as the Executive Vice President (EVP), requesting information required to enable lawmakers effectively discharge their oversight responsibilities.

He, however, said the requests had not yielded any substantive response or documentation.

“As a Committee, we have not gotten any briefing or information. In short, we wrote the NNPCL, both the GCEO and the EVP, and not even a single document or information has been provided to update us on how the state-owned oil company’s operations in the downstream sector, especially the refineries, are going,” he said.

Ugochinyere said the House had deliberately sought to establish a constructive and harmonious working relationship with the NNPCL in the interest of Nigerians, stressing that effective legislative oversight required cooperation, transparency and accountability.

“We, as a Committee, have extended a hand of partnership and working relationship, but it appears the operators feel that the people who own these assets do not deserve to know what is happening with them,” he said.

The committee chairman warned that the continued failure of the NNPCL to engage with the lawmakers could leave the committee with no option but to invoke the constitutional and parliamentary powers available to it to obtain the required information.

He stressed that the committee’s objective was not to create unnecessary friction with the national oil company but to ensure that Nigerians receive clear answers on the management of public assets and the progress of refinery rehabilitation.

“We are being left with the option of invoking the necessary parliamentary powers to get them to be accountable to the people, since they do not seem to like engagement that is harmonious and constructive,” Ugochinyere said.

He maintained that the committee would continue to exercise its oversight mandate in the national interest and insist on transparency in the operations of the downstream petroleum sector, particularly regarding the status of the country’s state-owned refineries.