Facts
emerged on Tuesday that the report of the committee set up by the
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to verify the arrears of
subsidy claims had been sent to President Goodluck Jonathan.
The committee, headed by the Managing
Director, Access Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, was
set up following controversies generated by revelations on the amount
being paid to fuel marketers as subsidy.
A top official in the Finance ministry,
who confirmed the submission of the report to the Presidency to our
correspondent, said if acted upon, the recommendations in the report
would help plug the leakages associated with the fuel subsidy regime.
The source, who pleaded not to be named
as he was not permitted to speak officially on the matter, said only the
Presidency could give further directives as to how the report would be
implemented.
He said the sensitive nature of the fuel subsidy regime had made it imperative for the report to be sent to the President.
The source said, “The report on
verification of arrears of subsidy claims has already been submitted by
the committee to the Minister of Finance, and as I am talking to you
now, that report has been sent to the President for further directive on
the next line of action.”
The Federal Government, had in a bid to
ensure a prudent management of the fuel subsidy budget, stopped further
payment to the oil marketers two months ago.
For instance, while N232bn was budgeted
for subsidy arrears in the 2012 budget, a whopping N451bn had so far
been paid as arrears to oil marketers for 2011 alone.
As at last week, additional N50bn had
been released, thus bringing the subsidy payment to N510bn.This implies
that of the N888bn subsidy bill, only N387bn is left for spending in
2012.
The source said the huge subsidy claim
was clearly not sustainable, adding that the ministry had a
responsibility to ensure that the lapses that might have led to the
situation were not repeated.
PUNCH NEWSPAPER
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