The Senate Committee on Appropriation on
Monday directed the Federal Ministries of
Petroleum Resources, Budget and National
Planning and Finance to reconcile their records
and include an additional N108bn in the N465.3bn
supplementary budget submitted to the National
Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari two
weeks ago.


The additional amount, according to the
committee, was the subsidy claims due for
payment to the major oil marketers between
October and December 2015, which was not
included in the N413bn subsidy claims due from
January to September 2015.
The committee also asked the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources to furnish it with the details
of the N437bn which had so far been paid to the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as its
subsidy claims but was not appropriated by the
National Assembly.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Danjuma
Goje, said at a meeting with the ministers and
heads of Federal Government agencies that
intelligent reports at the disposal of the panel
indicated that the petroleum ministry was seeking
an approval of N413bn out of the total N950bn
accrued subsidy.
Goje alleged that while the ministry had paid the
subsidy due to the NNPC, as first line charge
being its own share of the 48 per cent of the fuel
it imported, the subsidies due to the oil marketers
had been withheld.
He said the inclusion of the N108bn would enable
the Senate to approve the money so that the
minds of Nigerians would be at rest and the oil
marketers would not hold the nation to ransom
during the festive season as a result of the
outstanding debts.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum
Resources, Mrs. Jamila Suara, told the committee
that she was representing the minister, Ibe
Kachikwu, who was in Lagos to hold meetings
with major oil marketers.
She said her ministry’s proposal was N413bn,
being a component of N120.552bn outstanding
for 2014 and N292.8bn for subsidy from January
to September 2015.
She said, “We just called the attention of the
budget office to the fact that the proposal for the
last quarter had not really been captured because
it was about N108bn. When we started discussion
on it, it was much earlier in the year; hence, the
tidying up was not completed.”
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking,
Insurance and other Financial Institutions)
Senator Rafiu Ibrahim, noted that there was no
clear synergy between the Ministry of Budget and
the Petroleum Resources Ministry.
He then asked whether the N413bn figure
included the exchange rate differential and the
accumulated interest being claimed by the
importers or whether they were agreed figures
between them and their bankers.
Also, the Chairman, Senate Committee on
Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Tayo
Alasoadura, questioned the details of the subsidy
request and demanded that exact payment due to
each of the major oil marketers should be
highlighted for the purpose of oversight.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Danjuma
Goje, explained that the ministry had been
requested to provide the details of the issues
relating to subsidy payment from the last quarter
of 2014 till date.
He said, “We need the audit details for the
purpose of oversight. Nothing stops us from
going back to the issues even after the approval
of the supplementary budget. We need to know
the beneficiaries of the subsidy, and how they
came about it.”
Goje asked the permanent secretary to guarantee
the committee that the oil marketers would not
hold the nation to ransom during the festive
season because of the outstanding N108bn
subsidy claims.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr.
Udo Udoma, sought the leave of the committee to
allow his ministry meet with the Petroleum
Resources and the Finance for the purpose of
including the additional N108bn in the
supplementary budget.
The committee approved the suggestion and
asked Udoma to coordinate the process and
submit the report by 3pm on Monday.
Goje said, “Our committee will submit the report
at plenary on Tuesday (today). So, we are doing
everything within our powers to ensure that we
beat the deadline, hence we invited all the
stakeholders to make a final input into the
budget. We want to ensure that the issue of fuel
scarcity becomes a thing of the past in this
country.
Also, Senator Bassey Akpan, who is the
Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas and also a
member of the Appropriation Committee, said,
“From our own intelligence, the total subsidy
today is about N950bn.”
He said, “What the NNPC and PPRA are reporting
is the subsidy due to major oil marketers alone.
Major oil marketers import 52 per cent while
NNPC imports 48 percent.
“So, the subsidy that the NNPC is presenting, in
our opinion, is subsidy due to oil majors only and
we asked what is the subsidy due to the NNPC
on the basis of their own importation of 48
percent of the total fuel consumption in the
country?”
He added that the committee had agreed with the
Petroleum Resources ministry that the major oil
marketers will take care of the exchange rate
differential with the oil majors.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Defence, Gen. Dan Ali
(retd.), pledged to ensure that all the budgetary
allocation to his ministry would be utilised to
tackle insurgency and achieve maximum result.
He said, “We would ensure that maximum security
would be achieved within the time frame. In
addition, I wish to seek the approval of the CBN
for the extension of time for our military
personnel to carry out their Bank Verification
Number.
“Majority of the soldiers are on the field and could
not have access to their savings through their
families. Their families are suffering as they could
not access their money.”
He said the BVN registration extension for the
soldiers would enable their families have access
to their salaries and boost the morale of the
soldiers.
Responding, Deputy Governor, Operations, Central
Bank of Nigeria, Suleiman Barau, said, “We have
received the request and we have approved the
special waiver on BVN registration requested by
the Armed Forces.”

The committee and the Ministry of Budget and
Planning, thereafter agreed that the N5bn Victim
Support Fund should be in the Service Wide Vote.


Source: www.punchng.com/senate-raises-supplementary-budget-to-n521bn-2/

Out of this money,
otedollar will get 150 billion,
dangote will get 129 billion,
ubah will get 100 billion,
remita will get 5.2 billion.


issorait!

Naija we hail thee...... chei