The House of Representatives on Tuesday called for the review of the recent privatisation of the Nigerian Coal Corporation.
The resolution emanated from a motion entitled “Need to Exploit the Abundant Coal Deposits as a Means of Economic Diversification and Job Creation’’ sponsored by Rep. Chime Oji (PDP-Enugu).
Moving the motion during plenary session, Oji expressed worry that the recent privatisation of the corporation had led to erosion of its institutional memories, properties and technology.
He expressed concern that the Federal Government spent huge sums of money in regular repair of gas pipelines which were prone to vandalism and other forms of sabotage.
The lawmaker pointed out that Nigeria’s coal deposit of about 2.5 billion tons should facilitate coal mining, provide employment to youths and contribute to diversification of the country’s economy.
According to him, the passage of the motion will assist the country in its economic diversification.
“Coal deposits can be found in 14 of the 36 States of the Federation, but at the moment, it has zero contribution to the energy generation of the nation.
“Coal contributes 41 per cent of the global electricity supply with 69 per cent and 79 per cent contributions in India and China respectively.’’
The motion was adopted through a voice vote in favour of majority.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara referred the matter to the House Committees on Privatisation, Commercialisation and Power for further legislative action.