Senate To Probe Petrol Subsidy Payments, N9.3 Trillion Spent In 30 Months

The Senate has resolved to probe the payment of N9.3 trillion by the Federal Government in 30 months, under the petrol subsidy regime.

The Red Chamber made the resolution on Tuesday, during the plenary, after a motion moved by the lawmaker representing Imo North, Chiwuba Ndubueze.

Moving the motion, Ndubueze said the fuel subsidy removal must be investigated after the expenses incurred by the government runs into trillions of naira.

The motion was titled “Need to investigate the controversial huge expenditure on premium motor spirit (PMS) under the subsidy/recovery regime by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC)”.

Ndubueze said in 10 years — 2006 to 2015 — the federal government, through NNPC Ltd, claimed N170 billion as under-recovery.

The lawmaker added that the national oil company also expended N843.121 billion on under-recovery between January 2018 and January 2019.

He said: “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, N1.42 trillion was expended, in 2022, N4.3 trillion and in the first six months of 2023, N3.6 trillion, totalling, N9.3 trillion.”

The lawmaker also commended President Bola Tinubu’s decision to withdraw the petrol subsidy in May, adding that the government should immediately provide palliative for Nigerians to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal.

The Senate, therefore, resolved that its standing committees on petroleum (downstream), petroleum (upstream), and finance, when constituted, would carry out a holistic investigation on all controversies surrounding subsidy and under the recovery regime.