Senate tells new petroleum regulator directors it will not tolerate sabotage and wants relief for Nigerians

The Senate has warned the nominees for executive director positions in Nigeria's midstream and downstream petroleum regulatory institutions against administrative sabotage, inefficiency and lack of transparency. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Senator Suleiman Kawu Sumaila, said so on Thursday during the screening of seven nominees, according to ThisDay.

Sumaila said agencies that frustrate President Bola Tinubu's petroleum reforms would no longer be tolerated. He told the nominees that deliberate administrative bottlenecks, institutional inefficiency and failure to follow established regulations would attract the committee's attention. “Some agencies are simply not helping Mr President in the actualisation of his vision for the petroleum sector. This must stop,” he said.

He asked the nominees to show the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and accountability, and said their main duty was to uphold the law, protect the public interest and faithfully carry out government policies within their mandates. “Under our watch, we will not tolerate administrative sabotage, lack of transparency, inefficiency or any conduct that undermines the effective implementation of government policies,” he said. “Sabotaging public institutions and government policies is ultimately sabotaging the future and economic prosperity of Nigeria.”

The senator went further than institutional discipline. He challenged the nominees to make sure regulation produces real relief for Nigerians struggling with the rising cost of petroleum products and its effect on transport, food prices and other essentials. He said the petroleum reforms, though designed to reposition the industry, strengthen the economy and secure long-term energy supply, had put considerable economic pressure on households and businesses.

For that reason, he urged the incoming directors to look beyond routine enforcement. “Beyond the enforcement of regulations, you must explore practical and sustainable measures to mitigate the impact of these reforms on citizens and contribute meaningfully towards alleviating their economic hardship,” he said.

ThisDay's report did not list the seven nominees or the agencies they would serve in the passage reviewed, and it did not say whether the Senate has confirmed any of them. A Senate screening is the step before confirmation, in which nominees answer questions from the relevant committee.

The remarks put the Senate's expectations on record at a sensitive time, with petrol prices a daily concern for households and campaigns for the 16 January election under way. What the nominees promised in reply, and which agencies the Senate has in mind, were not stated in the report.