The Senate has asked the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to halt all transactions relating to the planned concession of the Port Harcourt refinery to Agip and Oando.

The lawmakers who are questioning the rationale behind the planned concession, say the process appears non-transparent and without recourse to due process.

The upper legislative chamber subsequently, set up a seven-man ad-hoc panel to carry out investigations into the selection process.

The committee is expected to submit a report explaining how and why such a deal was sealed and what criteria was used to select Agip/ENI and OANDO Plc to maintain and operate the Port Harcourt Refinery and at what cost and time-frame.

At plenary on Tuesday, Senator Atai Adoko noted that all processes and transactions should be stopped until the committee submits its report.