The Senate has initiated a probe into the oil subsidy and under-recovery regime implemented by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, expressing concern over the N9.3 trillion spent on subsidies from January 2021 to June 2023.
As a solution to cushion the effects of subsidy removal, the Senate is advocating for a living wage for workers. Additionally, it is pushing for the establishment of three functional refineries to enable local production and distribution of refined oil, aiming to reduce the pump price from N540 per litre to between N300 and N350 per litre. These resolutions were made following a motion sponsored by Chiwuba Ndubueze.
In the motion titled “Need to Investigate the controversial Huge Expenditure on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) under the subsidy/under-recovery regime by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL),” Ndubueze commended President Buhari’s decision to withdraw subsidies in May but emphasized the need for further investigation into the regime.
Notably, the motion revealed that between January 2018 and January 2019, the Federal Government spent N843.121 billion on under-recovery, compared to the N170 billion claimed between 2006 and 2015.
The Senate expressed concern over the substantial expenses incurred by NNPCL on the subsidy regime and supported the motion’s proposed actions.
Consequently, the Senate resolved that its standing committees on Petroleum (Downstream), Petroleum (Upstream), and Finance should conduct a comprehensive investigation into all controversies surrounding the subsidy and under-recovery regime.
Furthermore, the Senate urged NNPCL, in collaboration with major international oil companies in Nigeria, to establish three different consortiums for the construction of refineries, aiming to stabilize the oil market and the nation’s economy.
The Senate also tasked its Committee on Works, once constituted, to investigate the award of contracts for the rehabilitation of Aba-Ossisioma, Port Harcourt, and Umuahia-Ikot-Ekpene roads, including the funds released, utilization, and progress of the work completed so far.
