{"id":81919,"date":"2025-07-12T18:41:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T18:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps"},"modified":"2025-07-12T19:45:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T19:45:02","slug":"parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps","title":{"rendered":"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>The National Assembly\u2019s Majority Leader, Hon. Billy B. Tunkara of (Kantora) and the Minority Leader, Hon. Alagie S. Darboe of (Brikama South) were Thursday divided on the next move towards treating the FPAC\u2019s Petroleum Report.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Hon. Tunkara urged MPs to handle the FPAC probe into alleged malpractice in the petroleum sector with restraint and evidence. Speaking during Thursday\u2019s debate, Majority Leader Tunkara told colleagues that parliament must avoid acting on emotion or suspicion alone, arguing that the report\u2019s recommendations for criminal prosecution should only proceed if backed by conclusive proof. He described the report\u2019s key recommendations as administrative and said the allegations of corruption or money laundering were not fully proven in the findings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis Parliament is not a Parliament of emotion, not a Parliament of sentiment, not a Parliament of suspiciousness,\u201d Tunkara declared, warning that any move to charge individuals must be firmly grounded in evidence, not assumptions. He also rejected claims of money laundering without clear evidence of the oil\u2019s illicit origin.<\/p>\n<p>In a sharp contrast, the mover of the motion, Minority Leader, Hon. Alagie S. Darboe of (Brikama South), defended the report\u2019s recommendations and pushed for its full adoption. He maintained that the Joint Committee never declared there was no wrongdoing at all. He clarified that the panel could not confirm allegations against three companies due to lack of cooperation but stressed that the wider inquiry unearthed serious red flags, including suspected maladministration and possible corruption, that should now be pursued by the police.<\/p>\n<p>Minority Leader Darboe echoed this line, urging colleagues to trust the committee\u2019s findings, which he said fairly reported what was conclusively established and what remains to be verified. He called on MPs to adopt the report and allow the recommendations to guide future actions, adding that amendments can always be made where necessary.<\/p>\n<p>The heated exchanges underscored a clear split within the Assembly with the Majority Leader calling for caution and due process, while the Mover and Minority Leader insists that the report\u2019s recommendations must be upheld to safeguard parliamentary oversight and accountability in the petroleum sector.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. The National Assembly\u2019s Majority Leader, Hon. Billy B. Tunkara of (Kantora) and the Minority Leader, Hon. Alagie S. Darboe of (Brikama South) were Thursday divided on the next move towards treating the FPAC\u2019s Petroleum Report. Hon. Tunkara urged MPs to handle the FPAC probe into alleged malpractice in the petroleum sector with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":81918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-81919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The National Assembly\u2019s Majority Leader, Hon. Billy B. Tunkara of (Kantora) and the Minority Leader, Hon. Alagie S. D ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The National Assembly\u2019s Majority Leader, Hon. Billy B. Tunkara of (Kantora) and the Minority Leader, Hon. Alagie S. D ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-12T18:41:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-12T19:45:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1752336598.061125.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1284\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"618\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-12T18:41:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-12T19:45:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps\"},\"wordCount\":373,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1752336598.061125.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps\",\"name\":\"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps - Gambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1752336598.061125.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-12T18:41:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-12T19:45:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The National Assembly\u2019s Majority Leader, Hon. Billy B. Tunkara of (Kantora) and the Minority Leader, Hon. Alagie S. D ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1752336598.061125.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1752336598.061125.jpg\",\"width\":1284,\"height\":618,\"caption\":\"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\",\"name\":\"Gambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps - Gambia","description":"The National Assembly\u2019s Majority Leader, Hon. Billy B. Tunkara of (Kantora) and the Minority Leader, Hon. Alagie S. D ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps","og_description":"The National Assembly\u2019s Majority Leader, Hon. Billy B. Tunkara of (Kantora) and the Minority Leader, Hon. Alagie S. D ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps","og_site_name":"Gambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2025-07-12T18:41:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-12T19:45:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1284,"height":618,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1752336598.061125.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps","datePublished":"2025-07-12T18:41:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-12T19:45:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps"},"wordCount":373,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1752336598.061125.jpg","keywords":["Gambia"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps","name":"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps - Gambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1752336598.061125.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-12T18:41:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-12T19:45:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The National Assembly\u2019s Majority Leader, Hon. Billy B. Tunkara of (Kantora) and the Minority Leader, Hon. Alagie S. D ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1752336598.061125.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/07\/sm_1752336598.061125.jpg","width":1284,"height":618,"caption":"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/parliament-leaders-divided-on-petroleum-report-next-steps#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Parliament Leaders Divided on Petroleum Report Next Steps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/","name":"Gambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}