The Senate on Tuesday started a probe of a $3.5 billion “subsidy recovery fund.”
The money is said to be managed by the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, and the corporation’s finance director.
The Senate Minority Leader, Biodun Olujimi, who moved the motion to that effect argued that the fund was too much to be managed by any two individuals.
Olujimi said it was imperative for the relevant committees of the Senate to invite the NNPC officials to answer relevant questions.
Specifically, she said, they should explain why the fund was being operated and how much had been spent so far.
She said: “I bring an issue in today’s ThisDay newspaper and it’s about $3.5 billion budget recovery fund being used by the NNPC. It is earmarked as subsidy recovery fund by the NNPC.
“Mr. President, since 1999, there has always been a budget for subsidy but this has been jettisoned by the current government which leaves this administration in a dire strait. What is happening is that there is a fund named subsidy recovery fund which is managed by only two individuals of the NNPC – that is the managing director and the executive director finance.
“This fund is too huge for two people to manage. Right now Mr. President, the $3.5 billion is managed by just two and this is too huge to be managed without appropriation, without any recourse to any known law of the land.
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“During your remarks after the passage of the budget. You mentioned that there should be a budget for subsidy. That should be brought before the National Assembly. By the report, it is almost certain that the $3.5 billion is slush funds managed by two individuals and that is not correct.
“I urge the Senate to cause the downstream committee to invite the NNPC to explain why it should be so and what has happened to the funds that have been used so far and the new term recovery instead of subsidy approval.”
The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, called for the setting up of an ad-hoc committee, saying the Petroleum Downstream Committee might have been “compromised.”
At the end of the debate, Senate President Bukola Saraki said there was the need to investigate the issue raised by Olujimi.
Said Saraki: “[The committee] summon those in the NNPC who are responsible and come back to us in four days on a report that we can all debate – if it’s speculative it becomes partisan, so we will come out with the facts.”
