Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has said it does not know the exact amount the Federal Government spends for subsidy on Premium Motors Spirit (PMS).
The Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) , Joseph Akinlaja, stated this yesterday at an interactive meeting with journalists in Abuja.
Akinlaja said it was only the Minister of Petroleum, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission ( NNPC), that can say say exactly what the government is spending on petroleum subsidy, as the parliament did not appropriate fund for that purpose.
The lawmaker stated that although there was nothing wrong in subsidising PMS and other essential commodities, the country lacks the discipline to operate subsidy in any form.
Speaking on the advice by the International Monetary Fund ( IMF) to the Federal Government to remove subsidy on petroleum products, Akinlaja noted that although the IMF cannot dictate to the government, event across the world clearly confirm that the subsidy regime is outdated.
According to him, “I cannot tell you how much is being paid on subsidy. We know that if the government had come to the parliament to ask for a specific amount, based on our consumption for the year for appropriation; if they have not come here, we cannot answer the question. It means that it is only the NNPC and the Minister of Petroleum Resources that can answer the question.
“As for the issue of subsidy, I believe that there is subsidy that is being paid in whatever name it is called. The executive are the ones responsible for supply and distribution of petroleum products in Nigeria.
“The same executive said petrol especially – because that is the issue now; that as a policy, petrol should sell not more than N145 per litre. And the same government, specifically the NNPC, at a time last year during the scarcity, said the landing cost was N171.50.
“If oil marketers are instructed not to sell more than N145, and the same government talks about N171.50 as the landing cost, who is paying for the N26.50? Somebody must be paying. Definitely, it has to be the government.
“As Chairman of the Committee on Downstream, when we took on the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, what we heard (from them) was ‘under-recovery.’ What is ‘under-recovery’? Somebody is paying for something. So, I concluded in my mind as a knowledgeable person that the N145 per litre is being subsidised.
“IMF will talk to us in advisory capacity, they don’t run our government for us. It is the government that is supposed to take the decision. But as somebody who has been in the industry for more than 40 years, I believe that the issue of subsidy for petroleum products is outdated. Nigeria does not have the discipline to operate subsidy in whatever form.”