SAN FRANCISCO, January 04, (THEWILL) – The Senate has denied an alleged claim by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, that the National Assembly is responsible for the delay in the payment of the debt owed oil marketers by the Federal Government.
It stated this in a statement issued by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, insisting that there was no pending request to approve a loan for the payment of the debt by the Presidency.
“The attention of the Senate has been drawn to a claim said to have been made by the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, during a meeting with stakeholders in the oil industry on the perennial fuel scarcity in the country to the effect that the payment of debts owed oil marketers was being delayed because the National Assembly has not approved request presented to the legislature for a loan meant for that purpose,” the statement read.
“The Senate will want members of the public to know that no such request has been made to it specifically requesting for a loan meant for payment to oil marketers.
“The Senate is aware that subsidy on petrol had been cancelled by this administration, so we wonder which payment we are talking about now.
“Senators have been inundated with calls from oil marketers who were present at the meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President on the issue and thus, we call on Mallam Kyari to either prove his claim or retract it.
“It should be noted that a similar claim was made by the Minister of Finance on the foreign loan at a time the Presidency had not forwarded the request.
“The letter requesting for the foreign loan was submitted long after she was confronted with the fact.:
