The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), yesterday, said the NNPC Limited (NNPCL), was yet to reconcile about N8.5 trillion allegedly used for the payment of subsidies for premium motor spirit (PMS) popularly called petrol for 2022 and 22023.
RMAFC, which said the sum was meant for the Federation Account, insisted that the subsidy regime was not transparent, while expressing its support for its removal by President Bola Tinubu.
A statement quoted the Commission’s Chairman, Mohammed Shehu, as saying: “It is saddening to note that since 1st January, 2022 to date, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has not been contributing to the Federation Account due to the claimed subsidy payments.
“The total amount withheld by the NNPCL as claimed subsidies for this period amounted to N8,480,204,553,608.13 as reported by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation(OAGF) which is yet to be reconciled by the RMAFC, OAGF, and NNPCL.
“In a situation whereby the records of subsidy transactions are not transparent and crude oil prices are being determined globally, it would be unwise to sustain the phantom payments of subsidy at the detriment of other critical sectors of the economy thus making its sustainability difficult for the Government.”
…it would be unwise to sustain the phantom payments of subsidy at the detriment of other critical sectors of the economy thus making its sustainability difficult for the Government.
Wastage of funds
Shehu noted that RMAFC has consistently opposed the issue of petrol subsidy removal since the time of the late Hamman Tukur, who chaired the Commission during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, because its sustenance amounted to “payment of humongous amounts to a privileged few.”
He argued that the removal of subsidy will eliminate the opaqueness of its administration and end the continuous drain on Nigeria’s scarce resources.
He added that it will also free-up the funds for deployment into other critical sectors like the provision of an affordable transport system, investment in the education sector, improvement in healthcare, and infrastructural development. infrastructure and human capital development.
He continued: “As one of the fourteen federal executive bodies established by Section 153 (1)(n) and empowered by paragraph 32 (a) and (c) of part 1 of the third schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), RMAFC has the constitutional mandate to monitor the accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the federation account and also advise federal and state governments on fiscal efficiency and methods by which their revenue can be increased.
“The country can no longer sustain fuel subsidies whose demerits far outweigh its benefits to the citizenry.”
