The Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Kabir Marafa (APC, Zamfara State), has said contrary to the claims by Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Nigeria was not paying up to N2.4 billion to subsidise daily fuel consumption in the country.
Speaking at a live television programme on African Independent Television (AIT) on Wednesday morning, Saraki had declared that President Muhammadu Buhari administration is spending N2.4 billion to subsidise 50million litres of fuel everyday.
The nation’s Number Three Citizen described the development as a fraud.
According to him, “It is shocking and alarming that the current administration in the country claimed that Nigerians are consuming 50million litres of fuel every day and for two years, they did it without appropriation.
“What type of integrity are we talking about when a government claims to have been spending N2.4 bn. We have the (Senator Kabir) Marafa committee set up to look into it but we have always met a brickwall.
“For two years, we made several cases to the executive that the subsidy claims must be presented for appropriation because we cannot continue to rely on the arguments by the executive was only spending money on under recovery.
“We have set up a panel to look into it but its activities are being frustrated because we have a government where its executive does not believe that it is accountable to the National Assembly”.
But speaking with journalists in Abuja on Wednesday in Abuja, Marafa insisted that findings by his committee revealed that Nigerians are not consuming more than 30 million of litres of fuel daily.
He said it was impossible for the country to spend up to N2.4 billion daily to subsidise fuel.
He said, “It is not possible to spend N2.4bn on subsidy in Nigeria every day. Even though we don’t have the exact figure but it ranges between 25 to 35 million per day, depending on the circumstances.
“Even if we are selling 30 million litres per day at N145 per litre, it will amount to N4.3bn. If you say that government is subsidizing by N2.4bn, are we saying that government is selling at half of the amount?
“The landing cost of PMS (Petrol) is N180 that means government is subsidizing maximum N40 naira per litre. If you multiply that with 30 million litres, it cannot be up to N2.4bn.
“I don’t want to join issues with the Senate President. I don’t know the particular committee he mandated to carry out his investigations but if he said so, it must be for the purpose of winnining elections.
“From the records at my disposal, Nigeria is not consuming 50 million litres per day. It is not possible. Even if the nation is paying subsidy at all, it is being taken from the running cost of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.”
