•Seek sanction for oil coys violating PIA, probe of MDAs over COVID-19 funds
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The e House of Representative has urged President Bola Tinubu to allocate part of the fuel subsidy removal savings to funding healthcare service for the vulnerable.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Bashiru Dawodu at plenary in Abuja.
The motion is titled, “Call on the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to cover vulnerable Nigerians.”
Presenting the motion, Dawodu said that socio-economic development was not achievable without access to quality and affordable healthcare services.
He said the World Health Assembly in 2005 adopted universal health coverage as part of the
Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) Agenda 2030.
He said that after 23 years, only five million Nigerians were enrolled by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
He said that over 83 million vulnerable Nigerians including pregnant women and children under five, persons with special needs and the elderly were not captured by the NHIS.
He said that this made Nigeria unable to meet the targets of universal coverage, adding that it therefore increase the rate of out-of-pocket health expenditure.
He said that the health care crisis would not be resolved without Universal Health care coverage which cannot be achieved without meeting the target of the National Health Insurance.
He said NHIA Act of 2022 mandated health insurance for all citizens and legal residents which had failed, adding that in 2022 NNPC Ltd spent N.4 trillion on fuel subsidy and N3.6 trillion in 6 months of 2023.
He said that it cost about N5 billion to cover N5 million persons annually at the rate of NI5,000 per person.
He also urged NHIA to ensure implementation and monitoring, while mandating the House Committees on Health Institutions and Finance to ensure compliance.
In another development, the House urged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to revoke the licenses of defaulting any International Oil Companies (IOCs) violating the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA)
The house also recommend that companies violating protocols of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Green House Gas (GHG) should be equally sanctioned.
The resolution was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion by Victor Obuzor at plenary, yesterday.
Moving the motion, Obuzor said that Section 240 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) stipulates that oil and gas companies should remit 3 per cent of their annual operational expenditure to producing host communities via the Host Community Development Trust Fund.
He said that the main objective is to foster sustainable prosperity within the communities, provide direct social and economic benefits and enhance harmonious co-existence.
“Concerned that two years after the coming into effect of the PIA, oil producing companies have deliberately refused to make the necessary remittance as mandated by the PIA, thus sparking agitation within the host communities as they are feeling shortchanged.
“The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which is mandated to facilitate speedy implementation of the 3 per cent OPEX has awarded a penalty of $1,825 million to the defaulting oil companies, which is to be paid at the rate of N52,500 per day as stipulated by the Petroleum Industry Act,” he said.
In his ruling, the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, mandated the Committees on Host Communities, Petroleum Resources (Downstream) and Petroleum Resources (Midstream) to investigate and report back within six weeks.
Following the adoption of a motion by Nyampa Zakari at plenary, the House also resolved to investigate the utilisation of funds disbursed to government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for COVID-19 intervention.
Moving the motion, Zakari said COVID-19 outbreak was a major pandemic in 2019 that affected families, businesses and economies worldwide.
He said that the pandemic resulted in loss of lives, jobs and economic opportunities for millions of homes in different parts of the world including Nigeria.
The lawmaker said that the pandemic disrupted economic activities, leading to global measures such as lockdowns, travel restrictions, business closures, and government shutdowns to control the virus’s spread.
Zakari said that the disruption of economic activities necessitated the introduction of various programmes, policies, and interventions to boost the economies of families, small businesses, and public corporations.
“Mindful of that the Federal Government of Nigeria initiated several measures including budgetary provisions as well as funding from international donor agencies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic on the citizens;
“Also aware that a sum of N83.9 billion was appropriated for the COVID-19 response in the 2020 Appropriation Act as well as another sum of over N100 billion as intervention funds through supplementary budget and international donor agencies.
“The Auditor-General’s report and other sources reveal that significant funds for COVID-19 palliatives and international donations were diverted and unaccounted for by various agencies of government.
“Concerned that the lack of proper accountability of funds allocated for COVID-19 intervention by the Federal Government and global donor agencies could potentially lead to negative economic ratings and loss of opportunities for Nigeria,” he said.
Contributing, Ahmed Jaha said that the amount used to provide intervention was enough to establish standard hospitals in all 360 federal constituencies of the country.
He said that some of the funds were allegedly used to construct roads that had nothing to do with safeguarding human health at the time.
In his ruling, the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas mandated the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to investigate the expenditure and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.