The
House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Subsidy Regime said on
Thursday that total subsidy claims to be paid by the Federal Government
on imported fuel in 2011 might hit “over N2trillion.”
The committee stated this in the light of fresh
revelations that many marketers had outstanding claims to be paid by
government running into billions of naira.
Already, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, and the Central Bank of Nigeria had given the committee
two conflicting figures on the subsidy claims for 2011.
While the minister said the total amount paid as at
December 2011 was N1.4tn, the apex bank insisted that the “actual”
payment was N1.7tn.
But the committee observed in Abuja on Thursday that
the N1.7tn was still a far cry from the expenditure government incurred
on fuel subsidy in 2011.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Farouk Lawan, said
more marketers had appeared to testify that the government owed them
money for products they imported.
He said 100 marketers were awarded contracts to import fuel in 2011, rising from about 49 in 2010.
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