Fuel Subsidy: HURIWA Accuses NNPC of Shortchanging Nigerians

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) yesterday accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited of allegedly shortchanging Nigerians.

HURIWA in a statement, backed the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), and faulted the N6.34 trillion subsidy payment on petrol.

The civil rights group in the statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, wondered why Nigeria had not hired world class forensic auditors that are credible enough and can’t be compromised to comprehensively audit the total litres of fuel consumed in Nigeria.

According to Onwubiko, since most transactions on petroleum products are metred across the country, it would not take rocket science to scientifically and accurately ascertained how much volumes of local fuel consumed daily in the country.

The group recalled that the Customs’ boss had last week during a presentation before the House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance, said NNPC cannot scientifically prove the 98 million litres per day consumption it was claiming, alleging that the nation’s oil company was supplying an excess of 38 million litres of PMS daily.

“It is shameful how two government agencies are publicly contradicting themselves.  Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.) has thrown an open challenge at his NNPC counterpart and Nigerians are waiting for the explanation of Mele Kyari.

“It is no doubt that the NNPC is shortchanging Nigeria and Nigerians using vacuous and bogus subsidy claims because for now, it is not clear if any open and public records exist to show these details to allow for transparency and accountability which are the hallmarks of good governance. This is condemnable.

“It is particularly shameful that the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress failed Nigerians after criticising past administrations over failure to stabilise the production capacity of NNPC refineries to allow for home refining of crude oil.

“The country’s refineries have been run aground in the last seven years since Presidebt Muhammadu Buhari came into office and has been the substantive Minister of Petroleum resources. If this is not a national shame, then Nigerians wonder what it is”, the statement read in part.