Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti
state governor, has criticised Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo over his recent
claim regarding fuel subsidy.
On Tuesday, Osinbajo had said the Nigerian National
Petroleum Commission (NNPC) bears
the cost of fuel subsidy and not the federal government.
His
comments came after Maikanti Baru, NNPC group managing director, said the
landing cost of petrol is now N171 as against the official retail price of
N145.
But
speaking on Wednesday, Fayose wondered if there was any difference between the
NNPC and the federal government.
In
a statement issued by Lere Olayinka, his spokesman, the governor asked: “What
is the difference between NNPC and the federal government? Who is NNPC and who
is federal government? Is NNPC now an autonomous agency of the federal
government?”
He
said contrary to what is being presented, the NNPC does not have the rights “to
swap crude oil for subsidy” nor to spend money it generates from the sales of
crude oil.
He
asked: “Where is NNPC getting the money with which it is subsidising petrol
with N26 per litre? Is NNPC spending money from the sales of crude oil that
should be paid into the federation account to pay subsidy?
“I
like the vice-president, he is a pastor and I don’t believe that he will also
join others in Buhari’s government to lie to Nigerians.
“However,
this one that he presented NNPC as an agency of the federal government that can
allocate fund without the approval of the president is very strange to me.”
Fayose
also wondered where the money “is coming from” if subsidy is being paid by the
NNPC.
“Is
it from sales of crude oil? Does it now mean that the NNPC is spending part of
the proceeds of the sale of crude oil outside allocation to the federal
government by the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC)?” he asked.
“We
were in Nigeria in May 2016, when the federal government announced the removal
of subsidy on petrol and went on to increase the pump price of petrol to N145
per litre.
“The
same APC people, who protested against removal of subsidy and increment of
petrol price to N140 in 2012, defended the removal in 2016 and increment of
pump price to N145.
“In
2017 budget of the federal government, provision was not made for the payment
of fuel subsidy, so also that of 2018. So where is the N26 they are subsidizing
one litre of petrol with coming from? Is the Buhari-led government spending
fund not appropriated by the national assembly?”
- The Cable
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