The Senate has declared its intention to direct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies to pursue defaulting beneficiaries of the N135 billion disbursed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the national gas expansion program. During a meeting, the Senators expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of coordination between the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the CBN regarding the project. They also raised concerns about the uneven distribution of the funds to the beneficiaries, questioning why some firms received more than the N10 billion credit limit.

In Abuja, the Senate issued this directive when 14 affected companies appeared before it to account for the utilization of the loans they received. Senator Agom Jarigbe, the Committee Chairman, collected the records of the beneficiaries and the locations of their project sites for immediate investigation. He expressed dismay at the inappropriate access to the funds released under the gas expansion and intervention fund.

Jarigbe emphasized the committee's responsibility to ensure that the companies used the funds for their intended purposes. He highlighted inconsistencies in the process and suggested the possible involvement of the EFCC to recover the funds. Some beneficiaries were found not to have followed the guidelines, with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources unaware of the fund disbursement. Additionally, it was discovered that some companies had not utilized the loan despite receiving it.

The committee pledged to thoroughly investigate these observations and provide transparency on the matter to the Nigerian public.

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