IN 2017 ALONE, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation and independent marketers fleeced N784.7billion from Nigeria following a surplus volume of fuel importation of about 5.9 billion litres into the country, according to the Senate.
The upper legislative chamber has therefore warned the executive arm of government against any unappropriated spendings, threatening that action shall henceforth attract sanctioned.
The Senate said the subsidy regime of N26 per litre being effected on fuel sales in the country and consequently was illegal, and therefore directed its Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) to carry out thorough investigation on the alleged fraud.
The Parliament also expressed disgust over claims that the NNPC has been paying subsidy on imported fuel with the lawmakers questioning the source of the money being used for the payment.
The Senate noted that no such money was voted for the payment in the budget and therefore described it as illegal just like other unapproved spendings by the Executive arm of government.
With a strong threat to sanction any infraction, of the Executive using the dictates of the Constitution, the Senate demanded an immediate stop to any unappropriated spending henceforth, particularly as regards the illegal subsidy regime of N26 per litre being effected on fuel sales in the country.
The N784 billion fraud, according to revelations made to that effect in the interim report of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), which investigated the lingering fuel scarcity in the country, came about through five days surplus importation at 35million litres per day by NNPC on monthly basis totalling 60 days surplus importation in addition to marketers 109 days surplus supply.
The Committee, in the report stated thus: “NNPC said it is importing 30 cargoes of 30,000meric tonnes (minimum) of PMS monthly through the Direct Sale Direct Purchase (DSDP) scheme.
“This means NNPC is importing 30x 30,000x 1, 341= 1, 206,900,000 litres of PMS monthly.
“Therefore, at an average consumption of 35million litres/day, NNPC said the country consumes between 27-30 million litres/day from January to September and 30-40 million litres per day from September to December.
“From the above figures, NNPC monthly supply is supposed to last the country for about 35 days at 35million litres per day.
“The marketers on the other hand received from government about N1.669,180,182 billion at CBN rate of N305 to a dollar to import PMS from January to August 2017. This means that marketers were supposed to bring into the country about 3.8bn litres of PMS at landing cost of N133.
“In other words, marketers supply were supposed to serve the country for about 109 days at 35million litres daily in 2017.
“The implication of the foregoing is that NNPC has five days surplus every month, 60 days surplus in a year, added to the marketers’ 109 days supply, totalling 169 days supply surplus at 35million litres /day or 5.9bn litres which when multiplied by N133 subsidised landing cost per litre amounts to N784.700bn”, the report read.
Senator Kabiru Marafa, who read the Committee’s report, alleged further that the fraud arose from emergence of subsidy regime in the sector again, similar to the sharp practices carried out in the past through bogus volume of fuel importation.
Though the Senate, based on observations made by senators that the report did not capture the subsidy fraud going on in the sector adequately, returned it to the Committee for more thorough job.
However, the Senate President Bukola Saraki praised the Committee for unearthing the 5.9 billion litres volume importation fraud.
“The biggest fraud in the oil sector over the years under subsidy regime is not even the subsidy itself but that of volume through bogus claims that will be increasing from year to year.
“It is in the light of this that I will ask that, in line with submissions made by many of the senators here today, that thorough probe should be carried out by the Committee on the 5.9 billion litres surplus supply while the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, SPAC, should investigate the illegal subsidy regime as regards its authorisation and appropriation,” he said.
