The House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) has ended its three-day retreat in Owerri with a call for the sack and arrest of the official of the World Bank behind the April 7th, 2026 Nigeria Development Update recommending the reinstatement of petroleum import licences – a move the Committee described as a reckless plot to kill indigenous refineries.
In a resolution formally condemning the World Bank’s report – which claimed imports are twelve percent cheaper than Dangote Refinery’s product – the Committee rejected the recommendation as contrary to Nigeria’s national economic interest and an unacceptable interference in the sovereign petroleum policy of the country.
The Committee while declaring the World Bank official, a persona non grata, gave the Bank 30 days to issue a public retraction and written apology.
Furthermore, the Committee demanded that the specific World Bank staff responsible for the report be sacked from their positions and arrested.
The DSS, EFCC, and NIA was also directed to investigate and effect the arrest of agents of foreign petroleum trading interests operating against Nigeria’s domestic refining sector, including any World Bank officials found to be complicit.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in the same vein, advised to register Nigeria’s formal diplomatic protest.
Chairman of the Committee Hon. (Barr.) Ikenga Ugochinyere Ikeagwuonu had earlier declared the retreat open with a formal commendation to Alhaji Aliko Dangote, whose refinery he described as “a national economic treasure that holds the key to Nigeria’s future energy security
He however expressed worry over the persistent failure to ensure consistent crude oil feedstock supply to indigenous refineries – a failure the Committee described not as a market problem but as a governance failure which it intends to legislate upon.
The Committee also commended the Joint Committee of the National Assembly for its dispassionate and principled decisions in support of the pipeline surveillance contract, noting that the alignment of both chambers on this security matter sends a powerful message to all stakeholders.
The retreat also recorded that the Committee has gone considerably far in advancing the PIA amendment agenda, with six legislative priorities now at advanced drafting stage including a new Crude Pricing Oversight and Revenue Protection Framework.
In his closing remarks, the Chairman, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere said: “Owerri has spoken. We will follow up. We will hold accountable. We will not relent.”