The Nigerian Senate has resolved to launch an investigation into the oil subsidy and under-recovery regime implemented by the federal government until its removal on May 29, 2023.
The Senate expressed its concern over the N9.3 trillion expenditure on the subsidy regime by the federal government from January 2021 to June 2023.
Additionally, the Senate called for the implementation of a living wage for workers as a means of mitigating the impact of subsidy removal. It also urged the establishment of three functional refineries for local production and distribution of refined oil, aiming to bring down the pump price from N540 per litre to between N300 and N350 per litre.
These resolutions were made following a motion sponsored by Senator Chiwuba Ndubueze (APC Imo North), 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).” Ndubueze commended President Bola Tinubu for withdrawing the subsidy in May but stressed the need for further investigation into the regime.
He specifically highlighted that while the federal government, through NNPCL, claimed under-recovery expenses of N170 billion within a 10-year period from 2006 to 2015, it spent a staggering N843.121 billion on under-recovery between January 2018 and January 2019.
Many senators who participated in the debate on the motion expressed their disapproval of the substantial expenses incurred by NNPCL on the subsidy regime and supported all the prayers put forth in the motion.
Consequently, the Senate resolved that its standing committees on Petroleum (Downstream), Petroleum (Upstream), and Finance would conduct a comprehensive investigation into all controversies surrounding the subsidy and under-recovery regime once they are constituted. It also called on NNPCL, in collaboration with major international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria, to establish three separate consortiums to construct refineries for the stabilization of the oil market and the nation’s economy as a whole.
Source: Nigerian Tribune
