The House of Representatives has named a seven-man Ad-Hoc Committee to investigate oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and the country’s petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, over the alleged illegal sale of the Oil Mining Licence (OML 29).
Presiding, the deputy speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, constituted the probe panel yesterday sequel to a June 2, House resolution following allegations that Shell and other oil majors may have hidden under the cover of waivers, usually granted by the minister of petroleum, to embark on the sale of the OML 29 and others.
The seven-member committee chaired by Aminu Suleiman (Kano/APC) has Babatunde Adejare (Lagos/APC), Irona Alphonsus Gerald (Imo/PDP), Binta Maigari Bello (Gombe/PDP), Ismaila Ahmed Gadaka (Yobe/APC), Umaru Haliru Aliero (Kebbi/PDP), and Sunday Akpodiogaga Emeyese (Delta/PDP) as members.
The Suleiman-led Ad-hoc Committee is expected to establish the validity of the transactions and report back to the House within two weeks.
Federal lawmakers reported that the OML 29 has been in the custody of Shell for more than 52 years and one-half of the area of lease has not been relinquished to the federal government as stipulated by the Petroleum Act.
Item 12(1) of the First Schedule to the Petroleum Act stipulates that 10 years after the grant of an oil mining lease, one-half of the lease shall be relinquished to the federal government.
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Source: http://leadership.ng/business/377382/oml-29-sale-reps-name-7-member-panel-probe-shell-alison-madueke
