The Minister of
Petroleum, Rilwan Lukman, yesterday apologised to the House of
Representatives’ members for allegedly being referred to as liars by
the spokesperson of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Levi
Ajuonoma. Mr. Ajuonoma, was reported in the media to have accused
members of the House committee on Petroleum, Downstream, of “lying”
about the state of the Kaduna Refinery.

The committee, led
by Clever Ikisikpo had, after a visit to the Refinery, in the wake of
continuous fuel scarcity in the country, said the refinery’s units were
not functioning even after a Turn Around Maintenance.

The lawmakers said
the information they gave was based on structures they sighted during
the visit and on a briefing by the Refinery’s Managing Director,
Bolanle Ayodele. They said Mr. Ayodele had promised that the units will
become functional shortly after the visit.

However, Mr.
Ajuonoma, according to some national dailies, said it was untrue that
the units had not functioned. He allegedly said the committee members
had “lied”. At the Committee’s meeting on Tuesday, Mr. Ayodele
supported the position of the lawmakers, that they were briefed by him
during the visit.

Mr. Lukman who only
appeared before the committee after a threat of sanctions, said he
offered no apologies on Mr. Ajuonoma’s behalf but on the Ministry’s
behalf.

“He can speak for
himself,” he said. “In my view, that comment was uncalled for.”
Lawmakers turned down the apologies and pressed for an order that will
summon Mr. Ajuonoma whom, they said, had habitually made remarks
disrespectful to the lawmakers. Mr. Lukman told the lawmakers that the
Ministry of Petroleum will “take on” Mr. Ajuonoma for his comments.

Imminent deregulation

Yesterday was the
first time Mr. Lukman had appeared before the committee since fresh
shortages of product started in August 2009. The committee had asked
the general assembly to summon the Minister and the Group Managing
Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Mohammed
Barkindo, at a plenary after both men stayed away from several
committee invitations.

During his meeting
with the committee, Mr. Lukman also talked about “problems of the
sector” which have resulted in the shortage of petroleum products.

He said the lasting solution to the challenge lies with deregulation and the passage of the Petroleum Sector Bill.

“We cannot change
things overnight,” he explained. “If you truly want the petroleum
sector to work, then I urge you to pass the Petroleum Sector Bill as
quickly as possible.” The Minister called for patience over the
shortages which he blamed on vandalism. He said vandalism has forced
the corporation to convey products mainly by fuel tankers, thereby
creating logistics problems.

Mr. Lukman also
talked about the state of the refineries, many of which he said had not
been given a Turn Around Maintenance for more than 10 years. The Kaduna
refinery, for instance, was last given a turned around maintenance in
1998, before the recent effort.

“All of these will be taken care of by the PIB (Petroleum Industry
Bill) and deregulation, which will spell out the sector rules and open
participation in the sector,” Mr. Lukman said. “There is no country of
the world that is running the petroleum sector the way we run our own.”