BY BEN AGANDE

ABUJA – The northern caucus in the House of Representatives is to set up a four-man committee to study the Petroleum Industry Bill and its implication on the northern part of the country, Vanguard learnt in Abuja.

A member of the House of Representatives from Kano State told Vanguard yesterday that the committee would be empowered to get the best brains in the petroleum industry to critically study the bill and its implication on the north and advise members of the National Assembly appropriately.

The member, who does not want to be quoted because he was not authorized to speak on the matter, said “the bill as it is currently,  does not favour the north and if it is passed, our people would be impoverished, so we must do something about it.

“The north is already backward in all indices of development and if we allow the bill pass in its present form, our people would be pauperized.

“Already, the policies of this government are already heavily tilted against the north and we have to move to protect our people.”

Vanguard gathered that the committee will have a representative from each of the three geopolitical zones that make up  the northern zone, while the chairman will be elected by the northern caucus when it meets in Abuja later this week.

Explaining why the north needed to take a collective action on the Bill, the member said the southern part of the country was stealthily “creating the impression that there is no monolithic north and it behooves on us young leaders to work towards restoring the image of the north as a united entity, irrespective of our religious differences.

“If our leader, Sir Ahmadu Bello, could achieve it during his time, why can’t we achieve it? Whether it is North Central, North West or North East, we cannot compare with any of the zones in the south in terms of development, educational advancement and prosperity of their people”.