The Senate has asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to refund N216 billion paid by the commission as subsidy in 2017. The lawmakers unanimously agreed that the money be repaid to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, saying its expenditure is illegal. This position was part of recommendations of the Senate committee on public accounts adopted by the Senate on Thursday.
The committee was in January mandated to investigate all subsidy payments made by the NNPC without recourse to the National Assembly. The chairman of the committee, Matthew Uroghide, said the corporation in 2017 paid itself N216 billion but described it as operational cost. “In 2017, NNPC imported 9.8 billion litres of PMS at the cost of $5.4 billion amounting to N1.672 trillion at the exchange rate of N305.
“In the previous years, all importers including the NNPC have collected subsidy for differentials, it is therefore curious that NNPC will, in the year 2017, describe this differentials as operating cost and a loss but will not demand for a refund,” he said. Adopting the recommendations, the lawmakers warned NNPC to halt illegal payment of subsidy without appropriation henceforth.
The Senate asked the NNPC to make a formal request, through the president, for the inclusion of subsidy as an item in the 2018 budget to legalise the payment going forward. It also urged the federal government to pay oil marketers the outstanding arrears of subsidy payment owed them prior to 2017.
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