Joseph Bakare
The Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream has held a public hearing on the investigation of over 5 trillion Naira subsidy payment to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) between 2006 and 2016.
Chairman Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Senator Kabir Marafa in his comments stated that “The intention of this public hearing is to know what the average consumption of PMS and House Hold Kerosene is and what body determines our local consumption.”
Senator Ahmed Lawan representing Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki in his opening remark, said, “It is my pleasure to be declaring open this very critically important public hearing by the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream on the Subsidy Payment by Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).”
“For years, our country has been plagued with the issue of fuel subsidy and for too long, a scheme designed to reduce the burden on the poor has become the cash cow of a few who continue to milk the country dry in trillions under a process so opaque and insulated from public scrutiny called fuel subsidy.”- Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
“Distinguished colleagues, the mere fact that we are here again today to discuss this issue shows that those who benefit from this grand deception are not willing to let loose and government have not done what we need to do to nip this problem in the bud.-Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
“This unconstitutional and illegal practice must be addressed and we are not going to rest until it is fully addressed. It is the duty of this committee to get to the bottom of this issue and proffer long lasting solutions to this racketeering in the fuel market.”-Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
“This hearing today spotlights the importance of the recently passed PIGB, which after many years and several obstacles faced, has been passed by the Senate & the House of Representatives for the first time in 17year and is ready for the assent of Mr. President.”- Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
“It is our belief that this piece of legislation if implemented to the letter has the potential of eliminating the present distortions in the system and sanitise the governance of the oil and gas industry of corruption and the rot in the system.
It will introduce the market competition that would bring efficiency to the system. It is our hope that this will set the tone for the necessary institutional reform required to clean this all important industry of opacity and maladministration.”- Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.
“The public hearing is essentially for our invited guests and we want you to be open and transparent as possible. If called upon and have no connection with subsidy kindly say so.”- Senator Kabir Marafa.
Chief Financial Officer NNPC,Alhaji Isiaka Abdulrazak speaks on Government price control, deregulation and subsidy, says someone has to pay for price difference, that difference is the subsidy. It has been in existence since 2003.
“Before subsidy is done we send it to the regulatory agency, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), they issue certificates. Sovereign debt statement is passed to ministry of finance which is checked back to back.”- Alhaji Isiaka Abdulrazak.
“Define your work percentage and volume at that time in terms of subsidy and also now in other for Nigerians to be well informed.”- Senator Akpan Bassey
Director, inspectorate at the office of the Accountant General of the Federation Muhammad Usman says subsidy for the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) is directly to IPMAN by Sovereign Debt note.
“Oil marketers are under investigation because we are also looking at volume.”- Senator Akpan Bassey.
“There’s disparity in the report given, the figures do not have any synergy.”- Senator Chukwuka Utazi.
“This information is scanty, we need more detailed information on how these funds are paid month by month from 2006-2016. Nigeria paid 10 trillion in subsidy, we cannot talk about subsidy without recognizing the amount of volume that come in.”-Senator Kabir Marafa.
Head, Downstream monitoring and regulation of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Usman Ndanusa said DPR monitors every input that comes into the country, we also issue licenses of oil marketers that come into the country. We are not part of subsidy.
“A lot of Nigerians do not believe the amount of volume that come into this country, we want to know not just the quantity but also the country they are coming from and we also want to know the quality control.”- Senator Kabir Marafa.
Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Abdulkadir Saidu said PPPRA monitors the local production of petroleum, provides relevant information for the post payment audit of the subsidy and at the end of every quarter a performance claim will also be done to ascertain the report for the next quarter.
Senator Chukwuka Utazi to Abdulkadir Saidu “we want the list of all the marketers and the quantities of petroleum products they import.”
Director, Debt Management Office(DMO), Dele Afolabi said there was no time the DMO determined or provided funds to NNPC.
Senator Kabir Marafa in his Closing remarks thanked all agencies present for the #FuelSubsidyProbe and expressed his displeasure for agencies not present and didn’t send in any notice regarding their absence.
“A proper report from all agencies concerned with subsidy should be sent to the secretariat. Nigerians need to know these monies are their monies and Federal Government spend these monies on their behalf.”
Senator Kabir Marafa.