the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) The Governors Forum has rejected the N548 billion subsidy payment claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
“In 2021 alone, NNPC claimed to have paid over a billion naira as oil subsidy. In fact, (in) the month of March 2022, N220 billion was deducted as an oil subsidy with the promise that N328 billion will be deducted in April 2022.”
“Together, the country would have spent N548 billion in oil subsidies for March and April 2022.
“This is unacceptable,” the DPP governors said in a statement issued at the end of the forum meeting in Abia state on Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by the governors of 12 states and the deputy governor of Taraba state.
The governors, who denounced the NNPC’s inability to make contributions to the federation’s account even though the price of oil is now over $110 a barrel, said it was unconstitutional for the NNPC to deposit money into the federation’s account at his “whim and discretion”.
They further said that NNPC withheld more than N7 billion from the federation’s account between 2012 and 2021 as a subsidy payment and that the leaks were possible because President Muhammadu Buhari is also Oil Minister.
“We believe that all these leaks at NNPC have been possible because the President is also the Minister of Oil. The urgent separation of these two portfolios has become necessary,” the governors said.
In addition to the oil subsidy payment, the governors also accused NNPC of deducting N8.33 billion per month for the rehabilitation of refineries in Nigeria, even when “no refinery is working”.
CBN, EFCC, NIMASA, 14 others do not remit income to the FAAC account
The PDP governors said that 18 federal agencies were not sending money to the Federal Accounts Assignment Committee.
They listed the alleged non-compliant agencies to include the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Security Agency, the Security and Exchange Commission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigerian Ports Authority, the Security and Exchange Commission , the Nigerian Communication Commission.
“FIRS and DPR bear the cost of collecting 4 percent of revenue collected, while Customs collects 7 percent. In March 2022, for example, FIRS took N15.4bn as collection cost and Customs (Nigeria) took N8.4b.
“If annualized, FIRS and Customs collect about N1.84 billion and Customs N100B per year. Obviously, the capital budget of some states of the Federation does not come close to these,” the governors said.