From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (formerly Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) under its General Managing Director, Mele Kyari, of allegedly shortchanging Nigerians.
In a statement, yesterday, HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, backed the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), and faulted the N6.34tn subsidy payment on Premium Motor Spirit popularly called petrol.
The group wonders why Nigeria has not hired a World’s class forensic auditors that are credible enough and can’t be compromised to comprehensive audit the total litres of fuel consumed in Nigeria since most transactions on petroleum products are metred a across the Country and so it does not take Rocket Science to scientifically and accurately ascertained how much volumes of local fuel consumptions that take place in the entire Country daily.
Ali a retore Army Colonel, had last week during a presentation before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance in Abuja said NNPC cannot scientifically prove the 98 million litres per day consumption it was claiming, alleging that the nation’s oil company was supplying an excess of 38 million litres of PMS daily.
The Federal Government is proposing a budget with estimates totalling N19.76tn, while the deficit will hover between N11.30tn and N12.41tn in the 2023 fiscal year.
However, the NCS boss said the issue is not about smuggling of petroleum products as claimed by Kyari at a State House briefing last week.