Fuel Subsidy Payment: Senate Committee Gives Ahmed, Emefiele, Others One-week Ultimatum

The Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) yesterday gave a marching order to the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed; Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and the Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Mrs. Patience Oniha, to meet within one week with petroleum marketers and resolve the issue of outstanding fuel subsidy payments that had lingered on for over two years.

While the federal government claimed it owes petroleum products marketers about N469 billion for outstanding fuel subsidy, the marketers disagreed, saying they are being owed about N1 trillion. The Senate had in July approved N348 billion for payment to the oil marketers for outstanding fuel subsidy,

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kabir Marafa, gave the directive after listening to the submissions of the DMO DG, representatives of the CBN governor, petroleum marketers and Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) on why the marketers were yet to be paid the fuel subsidy approved in July by the National Assembly.

Marafa, after consulting with other members of the committee at the meeting held at Senate Committee Room 231, said the Finance Minister should head the meeting of top government officials, including the CBN governor, DMO DG and executive secretary of PPPRA and resolve in a week the contentious issue of outstanding fuel subsidy payments to petroleum marketers.

According to him, the top government officials must engage and agree with the petroleum products marketers on the matter within the stipulated time.

“The meeting is to look at all the problems vis a vis all the claims of the marketers and let’s know the way forward,” he said.

Marafa said the outcome of the meeting would be presented before the committee in the next one week, adding that “the Minister of Finance and CBN governor must be on ground then, so we must ensure that it does not fall on a Wednesday which Federal Executive Council (FEC) is meeting day usually attended by the minister and CBN governor.”

He also mandated the Finance Ministry to within two weeks harmonise the position on the balance to be paid to 19 petroleum marketers already paid 65 per cent of their claims.

The chairman emphasised that once that is done, it will be forwarded DMO for necessary action.