Missing N500bn SURE-P Funds: Senate Indicts Minister, CBN

The Senate ad-hoc committee on Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) has raised questions over the location and utilisation of about N500 billon meant for the operations of the SURE-P programme.
The committee led by the Senate’s Deputy Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi in the committee meeting, yesterday at the National Assembly expressed great disappointment at the turn out of the meeting which was supposed to have in attendance the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, GMD of NNPC and the CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido to explain the whereabouts of N500bn out of the N800bn that accrued to the SURE-P since its inception in January 2012.
According to the Committee, Dr. Christopher Kolade, the chairman of the programme under investigation had submitted that since inception the board had received only a total of N300bn (N15bn per month) for its operations from CBN.
Another communication from Ministry of Petroleum (NNPC) had also reported to the committee that about 25bn litres of fuel had been consumed, since the subsidy partial removal in 2012. The accrual of N32 per litre simply translates to N834.33bn.
The minister and Governor of CBN were expected to furnish the committee with details of remittance to SURE-P and thereby the location of the missing N500bn but both were absent.
Senator Ningi condemned what he described as lackadaisical attitude of heads of Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA’s) to invitations from National Assembly, “a minister does not make a ministry and if we send a letter, if the Minister cannot come, the Permanent Secretary is there and we have acknowledged them before. Why can’t any of them come? Having said that, I believe we are confronted unfortunately by forces of anti-democracy; people who do not understand what democracy is all about. From my experience since 1999, I have never seen this type of crass impunity and disregard of authority”, he queried.
The two deputy Directors who came to represent the CBN governor were sent back as not fit to answer the senators queries.
A member of the committee, Senator Kabiru Garba Marafa noted that the memo from the petroleum ministry, confirmed that in 2012 alone, a total amount of N561.19 billion accrued to SURE-P while another N273.13 billion accrued to it in 2013.
The committee had last week disclosed that the SURE-P operations had been shrouded in un transparent transactions and vowed to thoroughly investigate the programme and its operations.

Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi, Abuja

Rivers State Deputy Governor, Engr Tele Ikuru (left) in a handshake with former Deputy Governor of the State, Dr. Dominic Anucha, during the traditional marriage of the latter’s daughter, in Amaji, Omuma LGA, last Saturday . With them is former Rivers State Head of Service and wife of Dr Anucha, Mrs Esther Anucha (middle).