Following the special session
convened by the House of
Representatives to discuss the
removal of subsidy from petrol
and its attendant price hike on
Monday, the session went rowdy
with chorusing of no, no, by the
members of opposition PDP.
The disagreement which is clearly
between the leading APC and the
opposition PDP follows the motion
that Petroleum Minister, Ibe
Kachikwu be allowed into the
Chambers. The situation has forced
the session into a closed door.
The disagreement started at
about 12.15p.m. immediately after
prayers, the Speaker, Yakubu
Dogara, read the proceedings of
the previous sitting and moved
for the admittance of Minister of
State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu, into the chamber but
the shouts of No! No! No rented
the air.
However, after the Speaker
finished his comment, allowing the
leader to move the motion, there
was a resounding ‘nay’ from the
opposition lawmakers, mostly
members of Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) in rejection of the
motion.
Dogara ignored the strength of the
‘nay’ prayers by ruling in favour
of the ‘ayes’ as the Majority
Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, quickly
moved for the admittance of Dr.
Kachikwu.
While some members, waving the
national flag, started shouting ‘all
we are saying save Nigeria,’ others
were chanting ‘change’ with
mainly PDP Reps shouting ‘shame,’
‘shame.’
At this stage, the Minority Leader,
Rep Leo Ogor, approached the
Speaker and after a brief chat with
him, joined his fellow lawmakers.
Also, the Majority Leader and some
of the lawmakers approached the
Speaker, but the noise continued
as all appeals by the Majority Whip,
Ado Doguwa, to his colleagues fell
on deaf ears. Suddenly, frayed
tempers disappeared and the
Speaker gave the Minority Leader
the floor and he immediately
moved for a closed-door meeting.
More detaitails coming

And when he was finally allowed into the premises to make his address, Kachikwu told members of the House of Representatives that they were left with no option than to increase the price of fuel. Here are five major things he said during the meeting: 1. The diminished foreign exchange supply situation in Nigeria, which forced marketers to stop importation and imposed over 90 per cent supply on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) since October 2015 is responsible for the subsidy removal. 2. Significant decline in government’s foreign exchange revenues and renewed sabotage and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta. 3. There was no provision for subsidy in the 2016 Appropriation Act and as at Monday, the fuel price of 86.50 gave an estimate subsidy claim of 13.7 Naira per litre, which translates to 16.4 billion Naira monthly. 4. The new price band had gone into effect and the market had stabilised in terms of product availability. 5. NNPC will no longer resort to federation barrels and would endeavour to meet its obligation to pay FAAC 100 percent of its entitlement from the 445,000 barrels per day in the coming months. Since the removal of fuel subsidy on May 11, there have been series of reactions by Nigerians, especially one where they said the immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan meant well for the citizens. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as well as the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have agreed to shut down the economy o n Wednesday, May 18, if the President Muhammadu Buhari- led federal government refuses to revert to the old price. The unions have vowed to stage a nationwide protest and industrial action that will cripple activities in one Africa’s largest economies which they claim will not end until the president agrees to their demands.

There is no Honor in the House of representathiefs.

As if they care .