Senate Probes Bayelsa Gas Explosion, Anti-doping Bill Goes Through Second Reading

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate, yesterday,mandated its committees on Petroleum Upstream, Downstream, Gas, Niger Delta Affairs, Health and Environment, to investigate a recent gas pipeline explosion in Bayelsa State.

The resolution was sequel to the consideration and adoption of a motion titled: “Massive explosion close to Gbarian-Ubie Gas Processing Facility in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State and pollution of the environment: The need for urgent action.”

The motion was sponsored by Senator Benson Friday Konbowei (PDP – Bayelsa Central).

Also, yesterday, the senate passed for second reading,  a bill meant to prohibit Nigerian athletes from consuming substances that could enhance their performances during or after sporting competitions.

Speaking on the gas explosion, Konbowei said the Senate should note that the Gbarain-Ubie Gas Processing facility is one of the most valuable gas projects in Nigeria having cost multiples of billions of US Dollars to build, and processing about two billion standard cubic feet of gas per day.

He said the Red Chamber was aware that the facility supplies gas to the Bonny Terminal for export and was a big source of foreign exchange earnings for the country as well as an important employer of labour.

He said the upper chamber was alarmed that there were huge explosions from a crude oil pipeline on Tuesday May14, resulting in an inferno in the vicinity of the gas facility, “and this constituted a threat to the safety of the facility, which is a precious national economic asset.”

He said the explosions caused widespread panic among residents of the community where it occurred, adding that the Senate should be concerned that the inferno resulted in the “pumping of huge volumes of poisonous gaseous substances into the atmosphere resulting in massive pollution of the environment, with adverse impact on the health of the people within the vicinity.”

Meanwhile, the Senate, yesterday, passed for second reading,  a bill meant to prohibit Nigerian athletes from consuming substances that could enhance their performances during or after sporting competitions.

President Bola Tinubu sent the request for the enactment of the legislation to the Senate last week through a letter read on the floor by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, who presided over the plenary.

The bill was titled “National Anti-Doping Bill 2024.”

It was meant to domesticate and enforce in Nigeria,  the international convention against doping in sports.

It was also meant to establish the Nigeria anti doping centre to implement Nigeria’s obligations to the World Anti-Doping Code in conformity with International standards.

Leading his colleagues in the debate on the bill before its passage, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, explained that the proposed legislation, when signed by President Tinubu, would lead to the  establishment of an independent body.