The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru yesterday said the corporation was paid N4.9trillion for subsidy on petrol. Speaking when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) investigating subsidy regime, he said the amount was part of the subsidy incurred by the corporation between December 2006 and 2015.
The Senate had mandated the committee chaired by Senator Kabiru Marafa to probe subsidy payment to NNPC by the Federal Government from 2006 to 2016. Maikanti said the corporation incurred N5.1tr as subsidy in the period under review but that only N4.9tr was paid by the federal government. He said the corporation is being owed N170.6bn by the federal government.
“NNPC incurred N5.1tr as subsidy as approved by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), only N4.9tr was paid. The NNPC is being owed N170.6bn by the federation,” he said. Also speaking, the Chief Financial Officer of the NNPC, Isiaka Abdulrazak said the subsidy regime started in October 2003 when government stopped given crude to the NNPC at discounted prices.
Declaring the public hearing open, Senate President Bukola Saraki described as illegal the new subsidy regime being operated by the NNPC.
Represented by the Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, said “The findings of the committee have exposed among other things that in spite of the stoppage of the fuel subsidy regime, and the non-appropriation of funds for the scheme due to the fraud and maladministration going on in the scheme, that fuel subsidy payments continue to be paid from our commonwealth illegally and without appropriation by the National Assembly to a few quietly in order to dodge scrutiny and avoid exposure.
“But this 8thSenate is here to expose every corruption in the system irrespective of how highly place those involved are and therefore the reason for this public hearing today.”
