Petrol subsidy: Senate approves N129bn claims  

The Senate committee on the downstream Petroleum sector has approved N129bn as outstanding claims to 67 petroleum marketers.

The approval followed the adoption of the report of its Committee on Petroleum Downstream on the Promissory Note Programme and a Bond Issuance for Oil Marketers Outstanding Claims.

According to the committee headed by Senator Kabir Marafa, Nigeria has so far spent over N11 trillion as payment for outstanding subsidy claims over the last six years.

Recall that National Daily had earlier reported that Nigeria pays the sum of N39.9 billion monthly on Petroleum subsidy payment. In April, the issue of subsidy removal surfaced again after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy, stressing that the removal could positively improve the country’s slow economic growth.

While the IMF argued that removing subsidy is important due to the low contribution of tax revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed responded that there’s no alternative to prompt such action from the Federal Government.

Subsidy payment on Petroleum products still remains a big challenge for the nation’s oil sector.

As the 8th national Assembly comes to an end, parliamentarians, lawmakers also expressed their dismay on the recurring subsidy issue in Thursday’s plenary session led by the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

Ekweremadu advised that Nigeria needs to proffer a lasting solution to the problem through the provision of functional local refineries.

Due to the importation of petroleum product, the Federal Government pays the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) huge amount of money that should have been channeled into other sectors to encourage growth. As expressed by Senator Victor Ameh during the session on Thursday;

“People in government have refused to face the problem. Everyone is depending on oil revenue and yet no functional refineries have been set in place,” the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Joseph Akinlaja, recently disclosed