House of Representatives is to provide an accountability mechanism to ensure effective and fair administration of National Resources for the good of the citizens.
Speaker of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila made the statement while declaring open a public hearing on the outstanding debt owed to the Nigerian government by oil and gas companies operating in the country.
Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, reiterated that the House was Committed to using legislative instruments to enhance transparency and accountability in managing public resources and will not hesitate to evoke sanction on any stakeholder that failed to cooperate in the exercise.
The Speaker explained that the amount of money allegedly owed by seventy-seven oil and gas companies if recovered would address many developmental challenges, improve revenue and reduce borrowing to bridge the budget deficit.
In his remark, the Chairman of the ad hoc Committee on debt recovery Mrs Nkiruka Onyejeocha said the committee was ready to work with the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, NEITI, to ensure that all outstanding debt is paid to government coppers.
In their separate submissions, Representatives of NEITI and Federal Inland Revenue Service confirmed the allegation saying that already some of the indicted companies had initiated a process to pay off the debt.
Statistics from the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative indicted Seventy-Seven oil and gas companies owning the Nigerian government over N2.6trillion about $6.2billion in royalties, charges and taxes.
SALIHU TSIBIRI
