NNPC Can’t Account For N500bn Subsidy Fund – Senate

The Senate on Tuesday lamented that
officials of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation failed to honour
its invitation to give account of how they
managed the N32.00 removed as subsidy
on each of the litre of petrol sold in the
country between January 2012 and
September 2013
Members of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee
on the Subsidy Reinvestment and
Empowerment Programme raised the alarm
while addressing journalists, two hours
after officials of the NNPC and the Central
Bank of Nigeria failed to honour an
appointment with them.
A member of the committee, Senator
Kabiru Mararaba, alleged that his
colleagues observed that over N800bn
ought to have accrued to the nation for the
SURE – P projects if N32.00 was removed
from each of the 25 billion litres of fuel
sold in 21 months.
He said the figure was contained in a letter
from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources
to the committee dated October 9 this year,
and signed by its Director of Finance and
Accounts, Mr. Salmanu Faskari.
He said, “The committee had earlier
written the NNPC to ascertain the
quantity of fuel sold from when the
Subsidy programme started till date.
NNPC gave us the quantity sold from
January 2012 and September 2013,
covering 21 months.
“If you add everything together, it will
amount to about 25 billion litres and if you
multiply 25 billion litre by N32.00, you get
about N800bn. What SURE – P coordinators
told us, when they appeared before us,
was that they had so far collected about
N300bn since the subsidy regime started.
“The SURE – P team led by Mr. Christopher
Kolade, said they were receiving N15bn flat
rate every month. If you multiply 21
months by N15bn, it will be about N350bn.
What we are even asking is what happened
to the over N500bn difference. That is what
we ask the NNPC to come and tell us.
“We were also disappointed that the CBN
was not here because they are the
custodian of the fund. They should come
account for how they came about the
N15bn they were remitting every month
when it was not the same quantity of fuel
they sell every month.
“The figure cannot be a flat rate. Based on
the figure which the ministry supplied, in
January this year, the nation consumed
about 1.3bn litre of petrol but it had
dropped to 770, 695, 645 in September
2013.”

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