The Senate on Tuesday resolved to probe oil subsidy and under the recovery regime operated by the federal government till May 29, 2023, when the subsidy was eventually removed.
It specifically frowned at N9.3trillion expended on the subsidy regime by the federal government from January 2021 to June 2023.
It also seeks for living wage for workers as a way of cushioning the effects of subsidy removal and as well, seeks the establishment of three functional refineries for local production and distribution of refined oil with a view to bringing down the pump price from N540 per litre to between N300 to N350 per litre.
Senate’s resolutions are sequel to a motion sponsored by Senator Chiwuba Ndubueze (APC Imo North).
Ndubueze in the motion titled: “Need to Investigate the controversial huge expenditure on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) under the subsidy / under recovery regime by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) “, said the step taken by President Bola Tinubu on subsidy withdrawal in May, was commendable but the regime needs to be investigated.
He specifically submitted that while within 10 years ( 2006 – 2015), the Federal Government through NNPCL, claimed N170 billion as under-recovery, it expended N843.121 billion on under recovery between January 2018 and January 2019.
“Very worrisome of the expenses made on subsidy/ under recovery by NNPCL during the period under review, particularly from January 2021 to June 2023, was N9.3trillion claimed to have been spent.
“The money as shown by available records, shows that in 2021, N1.42trillion was expended, in 2022, N4.3trillion and in the first six months of 2023, N3.6trillion, totalling, N9.3trillion.”
Many of the Senators who contributed to the debate on the motion, frowned at bogus expenses made on the subsidy regime by NNPCL and supported all the prayers sought for, in the motion.
The senate accordingly resolved that its standing committees on Petroleum (Downstream), Petroleum (Upstream) and Finance, should when constituted, carry out a holistic investigation on all controversies surrounding subsidy and under the recovery regime.
It also urged the NNPCL in conjunction with some major international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria, to form three different consortiums and build three refineries for stabilisation of the oil market and the Nation’s economy generally.
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