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The House of Representatives at the plenary, Tuesday, received report from the Committee it mandated to investigate the sudden scarcity and high cost of aviation fuel in the country.
The committee, chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Idris Wase, at one of its sitting on Monday, received the request of the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), who appealed to them to direct Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Limited to grant them licence to import aviation fuel.
Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema, who spoke on behalf of the operators maintained that they had the competence to import the required ATK for their operations without any hitches.
Presenting the report, House leader and member of the Committee, Hon. Ado Doguwa, said the NNPC as requested should give airline operators licenses to import petroleum products, particularly, ATK and also bring in cheaper products whenever possible.
The Committee also recommended that Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) should meet within next three days and agree on some terms of agreement, believed would address the problem.
The lawmakers further recommended that in the next three days, ATK should be sold to airline operators at the rate of N500 per litre and later switch to the new formula that’s agreed upon by the stakeholders and airline operators.
Meanwhile, at plenary yesterday, the lawmakers, acting on the rules of the House, urged their colleague, Hon. Solomon Bob (PDP, Rivers) to leave the chambers for not being properly dressed.
The Chief Whip, Hon. Tahir Monguno, raised a point of order to that effect, stating that Bob was not properly dressed and therefore should excuse himself from the floor of the House.
Corroborating his observation, the Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, said, “Hon. Bob looking at you I think the Chief Whip is right, because you don’t have a tie.”
Bob, while agreeing to leave, however, pointed out that House rules had been previously violated by others.
“What I want to say is the that the rules have been so flagrantly violated. For this purpose, I have taken the hit; I will walk away,” Bob said.
But Gbajabiamila chided him for his utterance and urged him to go back to his office and put on a tie.
“I think you’re going out of line and we have to enforce the rules at this point. The rule did not say proper dressing, it’s formal. Hon. Bob, please, go to your office, get a tie and come back,” the speaker said.
