The House of Representatives has resolved to probe the abandoned N15billion worth National College of Petroleum Studies (NCPS) in Kaduna State.
To this end, the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) has been mandated to investigate state of construction works at the institute and make recommendations to the House within 4 weeks.
The resolution followed a motion sponsored by Hon Aishatu Jibrin Dukku at the Tuesday’s plenary which was unanimously endorsed by the lawmakers.
The motion reads “The House notes that the N15 billion National College of Petroleum Studies (NCPS), Kaduna which was meant to be completed in 2011, has since been abandoned by the contractors handling the project due to non-release of funds by the Federal Government and the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and complete lack of commitment by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
“The House recalls that the then Executive Secretary of the PTDF had stated in March 2014, during budget defence that they had spent N15bn to develop the institute which was billed to be a world-class centre expected to train oil workers in various professional courses and also develop, promote and implement the petroleum technology and manpower needs through research and training, but it is now an eyesore as billions of Naira worth of investment are wasting away.
“The House is aware of ongoing plans by the Federal Government to construct about 1,000 kilometres pipelines to convey crude oil from Niger Republic to the Kaduna Refinery, which will further bring about meaningful developments and enhancement to the Petroleum Institute that will serve not only as a vessel for the development of indigenous manpower and technology transfer/acquisition in the petroleum industry, but also make Nigeria a human resource centre for West Africa sub-region.
“The House is convinced that when completed and put into use, the institute will serve as a training ground for Nigerian professionals, technicians and crafts men in Engineering, Geology, Science, as well as senior management personnel in the industry and represent for the petroleum industry what the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS) is to the public service, and the National Defence College (NDC) to the military.”
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