PDP Governors reject NNPC’s N548 billion subsidy claim

 ...The Governors called for urgent separation of President Buhari’s office from that of the petroleum minister

The Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) has rejected the N548 billion subsidy payment claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).


“NNPC in 2021 alone claimed to have paid over One Trillion Naira as petroleum subsidy. Indeed, in the month of March 2022, N220 billion was deducted as oil subsidy with a promise that N328 billion will be deducted in April 2022.”

“Add together, the country would have spent N548 billion on oil subsidies for March and April, 2022."

“This is unacceptable,” the PDP governors said in a communique issued at the end of the Forum’s meeting in Abia State on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by 12 state Governors and the Deputy Governor of Taraba State.


The Governors, who decried the inability of NNPC to make contributions to the federation account despite oil price now over $110 per barrel, said it was unconstitutional for NNPC to pay money into the federation account at its “whim and discretion.”

They further said that over N7 trillion has been withheld from the federation account by NNPC between 2012 and 2021 as subsidy payment and that the leakages were possible because the President Muhammadu Buhari doubles as Petroleum Minister.

“We believe that all these leakages in NNPC have been made possible because the President is also the Minister of Petroleum. The urgent separation of these two portfolios have become necessary,” the Governors said.


Besides oil subsidy payment, the Governors also accused NNPC of deducting N8.33 billion monthly for rehabilitation of refineries in Nigeria even when “no refinery is working”

The PDP Governors said 18 federal agencies were not remitting to the Federal Account Allocation Committee.

They listed the alleged defaulting agencies to include the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Security and Exchange Commission, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nigeria Port Authority, the Security and Exchange Commission, Nigeria Communication Commission.

“FIRS and DPR take the cost of collection of 4 per cent of revenue collected, while Customs collects 7 per cent. In March 2022 for instance, FIRS took N15.4 billion as cost of collection and (Nigeria) Customs took N8.4b."

“If these are annualised, FIRS and Customs collects about N1.84 billion and Customs N100b per annum. Obviously, some states of the Federation’s capital budget does not come close to these,” the Governors said.

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