A supplementary appropriation bill of N161.6bn was passed on Thursday by the Senate to augment payment of fuel subsidy to oil marketers in 2012.
This followed a request on Tuesday by President Goodluck Jonathan to the National Assembly, seeking approval for an additional N161.6bn to ensure steady supply of petroleum products in the Yuletide.
At the session, Senate President, David Mark, decried the extent of corruption going on under the guise of fuel subsidy and urged the Federal Government to put an end to subsidy if it cannot combat the corruption being generated.
“It is not a secret anymore that there is so much corruption in the fuel subsidy industry in whatever system they are adopting. The nation must make a decision now, whether to continue this or to stop it,” he said.
“The nation must make that decision sooner than later because we cannot carry on this way. If they can’t eliminate and stop the corruption in the system, then the other alternative will be to stop the whole exercise of the fuel subsidy. We must take the one that is easier and the one that will bring less pain to Nigerians.
He commended the lawmakers for supporting the quick passage of the supplementary appropriation in the interest of the masses but observed that the proposal ought to have been forwarded in good time to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.
“They should have anticipated that there was going to be a shortfall when they first made this presentation at the beginning of the year,” he said. “That did not happen. We are now shouldered with the responsibility of this additional approval. We have done so in the best interest of this country.”
The approval followed a motion by Senate Deputy Leader, Sen. Abdul Ningi that the supplementary budget should be given accelerated passage in view of its emergency nature.
All the Senators expressed support for the passage of the bill and agreed that it would alleviate the suffering of Nigerians, ensure peace and stability of the nation.
Senator Smart Adeyemi faulted the National Economic Team for the delay in the presentation of its request for additional funds. “As representatives of the people, we have to support this request because it would improve the wellbeing of the masses,” he said.
In his contribution, Sen. Ayogu Eze (PDP-Enugu) hailed the Federal Government for acknowledging large scale corruption in the subsidy scheme and implored Nigerians to support the government’s effort to address it.
Ahmed Lawan (ANPP-Yobe) urged the Senate to henceforth scrutinise government expenditure before the considering requests for supplementary appropriation.
“We need to be very thorough and insist on getting relevant information in good time before we do supplementary budgets,” he said. “They talk about forensic audit but we have not seen the report. There is no evidence to show that we require N161.6 billion. I support the passage of this bill for the sake of my people.”
Sen. Gbenga Ashafa (ACN-Lagos), appealed to the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) to conclude investigation into the management of the fuel subsidy.
Nkechi Nwaogu (PDP-Abia) blamed the opposition political parties for protesting against government’s move to totally remove the oil subsidy.
“It’s not the fault of the president; or is it the fault of PDP? But it’s the fault of the opposition parties which would not allow the total removal of fuel subsidy,” she said.
