The House of Representatives claimed on Monday that it was not bothered about the alleged division among members of its joint committees investigating the N450bn debt the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation owes the Federation Account.Some members of the joint committee had staged a walkout from its sitting in Abuja on Thursday last week after they disagreed with the conduct of one of the four co-chairmen, Mr. Ajibola Muraina.Muraina, who is the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), had criticised an audit report on the NNPC by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.The report, which was presented to the panel by the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, had indicted the NNPC over alleged "unauthorised deductions" from domestic crude proceeds due to the Federation Account between 2004 and December 2008.NEITI also reported that the total debt profile of the NNPC was N842.7bn and not N450bn.But, Muraina picked holes with the submissions of the agency to the dismay of his colleagues, who interpreted his actions as defending the NNPC.One lawmaker, Mr. Sunday Ifedayo, had expressed surprise that Muraina was "interrogating" Ahmed rather than asking the NNPC to react to the report of NEITI.Many members of the committee staged a walkout in the ensuing confusion, a development that almost marred the investigation.Investigations by THE PUNCH showed that the incident embarrassed the leadership of the House.Findings showed that the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, had summoned Muraina, and the three other co-chairmen of the session, Mr. Bassey Ewa, Mr. Dakuku Peterside, and Mr. Abdulmumini Jibrin in a bid to resolve the disagreement."The leadership was deeply embarrassed by the conduct of members of the committee before invited guests; it created the impression that some members were taking sides with certain agencies," a source close to the committee told THE PUNCH in Abuja.But, on Monday, the Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Leo Ogor, denied that the conduct of the members embarrassed the House.He claimed that the House was not bothered about the incident, as it believed that human beings were bound to disagree in any setting.Ogor, who spoke on the telephone with our correspondent in Abuja, said, "What happened on Thursday was a non-issue; it was more like a storm in a tea cup."We are not bothered; people are free to disagree to agree. In every setting, people are bound to canvass different opinions. That was what happened."Ogor insisted that there was no crack in the committee and assured that the House would work on the findings and recommendations of the panel."Dont forget that we have the verbatim recording of what transpired at the sitting that day."In considering the report of the committee, the House will also review the verbatim recording and be properly guided", the deputy leader stated.Meanwhile, 23 more probes are pending before various committees at the House.One of them has to do with the alleged funding of killings and communal crises in the Niger Delta by Shell Petroleum Development Company.The investigation will be conducted by the House Committee on Niger Delta and Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission.
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