2011 subsidy claims to hit N2tn – Reps’ panel

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.