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The House of Representatives yesterday said the embargo placed on members from making public comments ahead of the proposed probe of the oil and gas sector has not been lifted.
The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Mr. Eziuche Ubani, said, "the embargo is just to ensure that the public hearing on the investigation is not sensationalised. We want to guard against members of the committee making unguarded comments or pronouncements. "We don’t want to make pronouncements that may not tally with what is on the field and moreover, public hearing is not a carnival. So, information must be properly managed," he said. Mr. Ubani said the House is still working on modalities for the commencement date of the probe, adding that once the issue of logistics are finalised, the probe will kick off. "People will be informed because it is a matter of national importance which concerns everybody. There is no timeframe for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) probe for now, but I am optimistic it will commence soon". He debunked insinuations that the House refuse to pass the Freedom of Information Bill because it will expose past leaders of the legislature. "Law making is an intricate matter, but our worry is with the new members. We need to sensitise them on the content of the Bill. We will go around making advocacy on that issue and it will be re-introduced. "The essence of the Bill is to grant access to information such as statistics and other government data to the general public and not to journalists alone," he said.
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