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Tag: Fuel Subsidy

  • Reps summon auditor-general over NNPC fuel subsidy payment documents

    Reps summon auditor-general over NNPC fuel subsidy payment documents

    The House of Representatives has summoned the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF) to appear before it on Aug. 30, for an explanation of fuel subsidy payments between 2013 and 2022.

    The lawmakers want the auditor-general to provide documentary evidence on the audit carried out on the monies spent on fuel subsidy by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd.

    Rep. Ibrahim Aliyu, the Chairman, Special ad hoc Committee investigating the fuel subsidy, issued the notice in Abuja on Thursday.

    Aliyu made this known during the scrutiny of documents submitted by the representative of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGoF), Mr Okolieaboh Sylvia.

    The AGoF was represented by the Director, Federation Accounts, Mr Mohammed Saleh.

    The lawmakers also directed the office of the AGoF to provide relevant financial transactions on the fuel subsidy for the period under review.

    In its bid to ensure fair hearing as enshrined in the law, the committee said it was expecting the AGoF to appear before it on Sept. 8 with relevant documents.

    The committee tasked the AGoF on the need to have an independent monitoring mechanism to verify the veracity of the transactions.

    The committee also expressed the need for the office of the AGoF to ensure due diligence by verifying the transaction documents submitted by all government agencies in line with its functions as spelt out in the Act.

    Rep. Mark Gbillah (PDP-Benue) after thoroughly scrutinising the documents, identified some discrepancies in the amount computed in the NNPC documents.

  • Reps summons Finance minister, Hajia Zainab over petrol subsidy

    Reps summons Finance minister, Hajia Zainab over petrol subsidy

    The House of Representatives has ordered the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning Hajia Zainab Ahmed, to provide all documents relating to subsidies from 2013 till date.

    The order to provide all documents at the ministry’s disposal was given by Rep Ibrahim Aliyu, Chairman, Special ad hoc committee investigating Petroleum Subsidy regime when Mr. Stephen Okon,  made an appearance on the floor of the green chamber.

    The Chairman of the committee gave the minister Aug 16 to make herself available with all the relevant documents in subsidy claims.

    He noted that the minister must provide answers to all questions concerning the consolidated revenue account as subsidy payment from 2013 to date.

    According to him, the breakdown of beneficiary companies that received subsidy payments from the consolidated revenue account must be submitted before it.

    The Chairman said the statement credited to the minister that N6.7 trillion is needed by the country for subsidy calls for concern.

    He emphasized that she needed to appear before the committee to make some clarifications.

    Okon added that the issue was a very serious one that required the concern of everybody, adding that the committee was holding trust for the citizenry.

    Okon further explained that the minister has been summoned because the information provided before now on the matter is confusing and very untidy.

    He asked for more time adding that he wasn’t mandated to do any form of presentation to the committee.

     

     

     

  • Fuel subsidy: Oando, AA Rano, Sahara Energy, others deny receiving payments

    Fuel subsidy: Oando, AA Rano, Sahara Energy, others deny receiving payments

    Oando Plc, AA Rano, Sahara Energy Resources, Hyde have all denied involvement in fuel subsidy payments before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating subsidy regime.

    The oil companies said they only lifted crude oil and we’re not part of subsidy payment by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd.

    The representatives of the companies took turns to explain contract deals with the  NNPC Ltd.  in Abuja after being quizzed by the lawmakers.

    Rep. Mustapha Aliyu, the Chairman of the Committee, said some oil companies were in attendance to explain their role in the deal with the Nigerian NNPC Ltd.

    Aliyu who read a list containing the name of the individual companies explained that a communication from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), on the request of the committee came back without any information on the affected companies.

    He said that committee would write to the embassies of the companies which he said were mostly expatriates to provide the details of the profiles.

    Aliyu said there would be questions to answer, adding that the Committee wrote to CAC, requesting the commission to avail it with information on the following companies, about 57 companies.

    He said that the committee would also write to their commercial desks of their various embassies if they were expatriates so that they could have their full data.

    In the bid to ascertain the veracity of the over N6 trillion allegedly spent on fuel subsidy as of the Second Quarter of this year, the committee unveiled plans to extend the ongoing investigation into the fuel subsidy from 2017 to 2022.

    The committee investigating the subsidy payment between 2017 and 2021 chaired Aliyu had during the ongoing investigative hearing made public the lists of 23 unregistered oil companies that participated in the fuel subsidy regime between 2017 and 2021.

    The details of the affected companies were contained in a memo sent by Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with Reference No: RGO/SU/VOL.5/2022/0248 dated Wednesday, July 13, 2022, to the Chairman, Special Ad-hoc Committee on petroleum products subsidy regime.

  • Fuel Subsidy Probe: Profile of 23 Oil Companies not in CAC – Reps

    Fuel Subsidy Probe: Profile of 23 Oil Companies not in CAC – Reps

     

    … as Reps vow to unearth them

    The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating subsidy regime payments from 2013 to 2022 has said that the profiles of 23 oil companies trading in Nigeria were missing from Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC portal.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Mustapha Ibrahim Aliyu, at the resumed hearing of the investigative hearing on Wednesday told the oil companies in attendance to explain their role in the deal with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC Limited .

    Aliyu read a list containing the name of the individual companies explained that a communication from the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), on the request of the committee came back without any information on the affected companies.

    He said that they have serious questions to answer, as the Committee will write to the embassies of the companies which were mostly expatriates to provide the details of their profiles.

    The letter with Ref. RGO/SU/VOL.5/2022/0248 dated 13TH July, 2022 signed by Maimunat Hamu. M on behalf of Register-General, read as follows “Kindly refer to your letter Ref: NASS/QHR/AHC/PPSRIM1/1H/01/051 dated 1st July, 2022 on the subject matter above.

    “Please be informed that we could not readily find information on the exact name of the following companies as provided in our record.

    “Emadeb Consortium; Britania-U Nig. Limtted; Totsa Total Ol Tradings SA; Petroleum Trading Nigeria Limited; Mocoh S.A; Socer Worldwide; Calson Bermuda Ltd; Hyson; Litasco S.A; Mercuria Energy; Cepsa Lubricant; Trafigura Pte; Vitol S.A; Ocanbed Trading Limited; Bonno Energy; West Africa Gas Limited; Petrogas; Matrix; Masters Energy; Amg; Barbedos; Hindustan and Patermina.

    “However, you may wish to provide the registration numbers or any other available documents at your disposal to enable us investigate further.

    “Kindly accept assurances of the Registrar General’s highest regards”, the letter reads.

    Similarly, another letter with Ref: NASS/9HR/AHC/PPSR/14/iH/01/051 dated 1st July, 2022 and our previous response with Ref RGO/SU/VOL.5/2022/0248 dated Wednesday 13″ July, 2022 on the subject matter also read by the Chairman had names of other oil companies who were to appear before the committee.

    “Please find attached five copies each of certified true documents and a flash drive in respect of the following companies”, the letter reads.

    They included Heyden Petroleum Limited RC: 433175; Graton Oil Limited KC: 644074; Duke Oil And Gas. Limited RC; 64456145; Matrix Energy Limited RC: 612026; MRS Companies Limited RC: 241,013; Sahara Trade Nigeria Limited RC: 352,443; Essar Exploration And Production Limited RC: 692910; Sahara Group Limited RC: 668626; Rainoil Limited RC: 257,444; Casiva Limited RC: 1091598; Petroleum Traiding And Supplies Company Limited RC: 506113; Napo Oil Limited RC: 333,354; Calson (Nigeria) Limited RC: 121, 474; A. A. Rano Nigeria Limited RC: 399320; JKR Maritime Oil & Gas Limited RC: 1166636; BP Oil development & Energy Services Limited RC: 1506132; A.A Rano Lubes Limited RC: 1531528; Starco Energy Trading Nig Ltd RC: 1135491; A.Y. Maikifi Oil & Gas Company Ltd RC: 973914 ;The Shell Petroleum Development Company Of Nigeria Limited RC: 892; Oando Oil Limited RC: 427325; A.Y.M. Shafa Limited RC: 296,875

    “We shall revert to you on the following companies as soon as we conclude our findings: Hyde Energy; Varo Energy; Eni-Trading; Levene Energy.

    “We could not readily find information on the exact name Petroleum & Gas Company Ltd in our record. However, you may wish to provide the registration number or any other available document at your disposal to enable us investigate further.

    “Kindly accept, assurances of the Registrar General’s highest regards. Yours, faithfully, Maimunat Hamu. For: Registrar-General”, the letter read.

    In his remarks, Hon. Aliyu said there will be questions to answer.

    “This Committee wrote to the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, requesting the commission to avail it with information on the following companies, about 57 companies. The commission wrote as follows: I read two letters that they have sent to us.

    “I will like to direct the NNPC to provide detailed profile of these companies. At this juncture, I say that all those companies that were invited to appear before this Committee should make their profile as part of their submission. And take this to be part of the requirements for submission before this honorable committee. Those company the commission couldn’t find their profile, they will have a lot of questions to answer particularly, NNPC.

    “This Committee will also write to their commercial desks of their various embassies if they are expatriates so that we can have full data of them”, he said.

    Earlier, the Committee quizzed the representatives of Sahara Energy Resources, Oando Plc, Hyde and AA Rano where they took turns to explain contract deals with the NNPC, saying they only lifted crude and were not part of the subsidy payments.

  • BREAKING: FG to spend N6.72 trillion on fuel subsidy in 2023

    BREAKING: FG to spend N6.72 trillion on fuel subsidy in 2023

    Nigeria’s federal government (FG) has said it would make a provision of N6.72 trillion for fuel subsidy in 2023.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday.

    Mrs Ahmed disclosed this during the 2023 – 2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategic Paper (MTEF and FSP) Public Consultation.

    The Finance Minister said the amount would remain and be fully provided for by the NNPC on behalf of the federation.

     

    Details shortly…

  • Reps take action to probe subsidy payments under Buhari

    Reps take action to probe subsidy payments under Buhari

    The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate payments for subsidies on petroleum products primarily Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol under the regime led by President, Muhammadu Buhari.

    But Nigerians are wary over the way subsidy issues are shrouded in sefrecy, while citizens continue to wallow in abject poverty and impoverishment.

    With discrepancies between figures allegedly consumed daily and lower that figures allegedly used to calculate subsidies, confidence in governance has continued to Wane.
    But Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, is to set up an ‘Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Petroleum Products Subsidy regime from 2017 to 2021,’ which is to report back to the House within eight weeks for further legislative action.

    The probe is based on a motion titled ‘Need to Investigate the Petroleum Products Subsidy Regime in Nigeria from 2017 to 2021,’ which a member of the House, Sergius Ogun, moved at the plenary on Wednesday and the lawmakers unanimously adopted.

    Ogun noted that Section 88 (1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution empowers the National Assembly to conduct investigations into the activities of any authority executing or administering laws made by the National Assembly.

    He also noted that Section 32 of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, saddles the Petroleum Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority with regulating and monitoring technical and commercial midstream and downstream petroleum operations in Nigeria.

    The lawmaker said as of 2002, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s purchase of crude oil at international market prices stood at 445,000 barrels per day in order to enable it to provide petroleum products for local consumption;

    “The House is concerned that as of 2002, the installed capacity of Nigeria’s local refineries stood at 445,000 barrels per day, however, their capacity utilisation began to nosedive and eventually fell completely to zero due to the ineffectiveness and alleged corruption of critical stakeholders in the value chain,” he said.

    Ogun explained that due to the decline in the production capacity of the refineries, the NNPC, now Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, found it more convenient to export domestic crude in exchange for petroleum products on a trade-by-barter basis, described as Direct Sales Direct Purchase arrangement.

    The lawmaker pointed out that the component costs in the petroleum products subsidy value chain claimed by the NNPC is “highly over-bloated,” while the transfer pump price per litre used by the NNPC in relation to PPMC is under quoted as N123-N128, instead of N162-N165, “and this fraudulent under-reporting of N37-N39 per litre translates into over N70bn a month or N840bn a year.”

    He said, “The House is worried that the consumption rate of PMS is 40million to 45million litres per day. However, the NNPC uses 65 million to 100 million litres per day to determine subsidy as discoverable from NNPC’s monthly reports to the Federal Allocation Committee.

    “The House is also worried that the NNPC and other critical stakeholders have unscrupulously used the subsidy regime to subvert the nation’s crude oil revenue to the tune of over $10bn, with records showing that as at 2021, over $7bn in over 120 million barrels have been so diverted.

    “The House is disturbed that there exists evidence that subsidy amounts are being duplicated, thus subsidy is charged against petroleum products sales in the books of NNPC as well as against crude oil revenue in the books of NAPIMS to the tune of over N2tn.”

  • Why we did not remove fuel subsidy – Buhari reveals

    Why we did not remove fuel subsidy – Buhari reveals

    With the current fuel scarcity arising in some parts of the country, President Muhamamdu Buhari has revealed why his government has decided not to remove fuel subsidies.

    In an interview with Bloomberg, the president explained what will be the effects on the country if his administration decides to remove fuel subsidies.

    Buhari stated that they were working on boosting local capacity in order to stem the inflationary pressures.

    He claimed that most western countries are implementing fuel subsidies and added that “what is good for the goose is good for the gander”.

    According to him, “My government set in motion plans to remove the subsidy late last year. After further consultation with stakeholders, and as events unfolded this year, such a move became increasingly untenable.

    “Boosting internal production for refined products shall also help. Capacity is due to step up markedly later this year and next, as private players and modular refineries come on board.”

    Buhari also explained that the exchange rate is very much “susceptible to external shocks that can suddenly and severely affect Nigerians”, but added that “as we step up domestic production – both in fuel and food – the inflationary threat shall diminish, and we can move toward unification.”

  • Why can’t FG take N200bn from N4trn budgeted for fuel subsidy to end Universities lecturers strike – ASUU

    Why can’t FG take N200bn from N4trn budgeted for fuel subsidy to end Universities lecturers strike – ASUU

    The President, Academic Staff Union of University, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, has wondered why the Federal Government could not take N200bn from the N4trillion budgeted for fuel subsidy to put an end to the industrial action.

     

    Speaking on Wednesday, Osodeke said, “It is always funny that the government cannot raise N200bn to revamp all Nigeria’s universities annually, to world standards. The same government can raise N4trillion for fuel subsidy.

     

    “You can raise a budget to make N4trillion for subsidy in a year, but you cannot raise N200bn to fund your education where you don’t have the infrastructure. You can spend N228bn to feed children in primary or secondary schools but you cannot raise this fund for your university; it is an issue of priority. That is the problem.

     

    “If you remove N200bn from N4trillion to fund your universities, you still have N3.8trillion for fuel subsidy. We don’t believe there is a fuel subsidy. There is no country where you have the crude intelligentsia.

     

    “You have been importing fuel for the past 20 years; something is ongoing. No country in the world will do that. In the 60s, we built four refineries, and between 1999 and now, we cannot build one or service the ones we had.”

     

  • Reps approve N4trn for fuel subsidy as Police get N182 bn salary increase

    Reps approve N4trn for fuel subsidy as Police get N182 bn salary increase

    The sum of N4 trillion has been approved for fuel subsidy by the House of Representatives on Thursday in the revised 2022 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) sent by President Muhammadu Buhari on April 7.

    Similarly, the sum of N182 billion was passed as an increment for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) salary, while it also passed N7.35 trillion budget deficit.

    This followed the consideration and adoption of the report of the House Committee on Finance on the request by the President for revision of the 2022 Fiscal Framework at the plenary.

    Buhari in a letter had requested the review of the 2022 MTEF to make some adjustments to accommodate present realities such as oil production and price as well as suspension of the removal of fuel subsidy.

    The House, however, approved an increase in the oil benchmark to 73 dollars per barrel and a daily oil production volume of 1.6 million barrels per day.

    Other approvals by the House include a cut in the provision for federally funded upstream projects being implemented by N200 billion from N352.80 billion.

    Others are an increase in the projection for Federal Government independent revenue by N400 billion and an additional provision of N182.45 billion to cater for the needs of the NPF.

    The House also approved a domestic debt service provision of N76.13 billion and net reductions in Statutory Transfers by N66.07 billion.

    Newsmen reports that the breakdown is as follows: Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), by N13.46 billion from N102.78 billion to N89.32 billion

    “North East Development Commission (NEDC), by N6.30 billion from N48.08 billion to N41.78 billion; and Universal Basic Education (UBEC), by N23.16 billion from N112.29 billion to N89.13 billion.

    “Basic Health Care Fund, by N11.58 billion from N56.14 billion to N44.56 billion; and that NASENI, by N11.58 billion from N56.14 billion to N44.56 billion.”

    The House of Reps Committee Chairman, Appropriation, Rep . Aliyu Betara, said that the House acted on the President’s request and did some adjustment to fit his request on the budget.

  • FG quietly ends electricity subsidy

    FG quietly ends electricity subsidy

    The federal government (FG) of Nigeria has quietly removed electricity subsidy, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed has revealed.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Ahmed revealed this while speaking on Thursday at a virtual meeting of African Finance Ministers and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

    The Minister of Finance stressed the FG was making efforts to make sure that subsidies were cleaned up totally in the country, stressing that what is next is fuel subsidy.

    Ahmed noted that the FG is currently doing a budget amendment to accommodate incremental subsidy removal as a result of the reversal of the decision to remove fuel subsidy by July.

    She stressed fuel subsidy remained a huge problem for the government and that it had thrown up deficits more than what was planned.

    “We are cleaning up our subsidies. We had a setback; we were to remove fuel subsidy by July this year but there was a lot of pushback from the polity. We have elections coming and because of the hardship that companies and citizens went through during the COVID-19 pandemic, we just felt that the time was not right, so we pulled back on that.

    “But we have been able to quietly implement subsidy removal in the electricity sector and as we speak, we don’t have subsidies in the electricity sector. We did that incrementally over time by carefully adjusting the prices at some levels while holding the lower levels down.

    “We are currently doing a budget amendment to accommodate incremental subsidy (removal) as a result of the reversal of the decision and we want to cap it at that.

    “Hopefully, the parliament will agree with us and we are able to continue with our plan for subsidy (removal) otherwise the way things are going we will not be able to predict where the deficit will be as a result of the fluctuation in the global market,” Ahmed said.