Disclose Source Of Kerosene Subsidy, Reps Tell NNPC

L-R: Vice Chancellor, University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), Prof. Joseph Ajienka, Founder, International Conference on Thinking, Prof. William Maxwell and a Professor with the English Department, UNIPORT, Prof. Molara Ogundebe, at a public lecture on Genius Principle at the university, yesterday.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, yesterday in Abuja, asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to disclose the source of funding of kerosene subsidy.
Tambuwal, who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Emeka Ihedioha, made the demand at an investigative hearing on the supply, subsidy and distribution of kerosene in the country.
The hearing was organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream).
He said that since there was no budgetary provision for subsidy on kerosene, Nigerians would want to know the source of funding of the subsidy.
The speaker noted that in spite of the N1trillion spent in the past four years to subsidise kerosene, the product had continued to elude Nigerians.
“When kerosene is available at all, it is sold at such exorbitant rates that Nigerians have to pay huge sums to get the product,” he said.
Tambuwal said that neither the NNPC nor its agencies had been able to disclose the consumption volume of kerosene per annum.
“This mystery surrounding kerosene subsidy warrants a full scale investigation to unravel the truth.
“Nigerians need to know to what extent kerosene subsidy is actually serving their interest,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Group Managing Director of  NNPC, Mr Andrew Yakubu, yesterday in Abuja said that kerosene was not sold at the official price of N50 per litre because of diversion of the product by some marketers.
The other reasons for the high price of kerosene, according to him, include sharp practices by middlemen, usage for road construction and aviation fuel, among others.
On kerosene subsidy, Yakubu said that though there was a directive to stop subsidy on the product it was not followed to conclusion.
In a remark, the Chairman of the committee, Rep. Dakuku Peterside (APC-Rivers), said the hearing was not aimed at witch hunting any organisation or person.
According to him, it is to encourage adherence to extant laws and transparency in the operations of the agencies saddled with the responsibilities to regulate the sector.