President Goodluck Jonathan had on Tuesday sent a request to the
National Assembly to approve an additional N161.6 billion to ensure
steady supply of petroleum products during the festive season.
Senate President, Sen. David Mark, however, decried the high level of
corruption being perpetrated under the fuel subsidy scheme, the News
Agency of Nigeria reports.
He urged the Federal Government to stop the fuel subsidy if it was
unable to stop the high level of corruption being perpetrated under the
scheme.
“It is not a secret anymore that there is so much corruption in the fuel subsidy industry in whatever system they are adopting.
“The nation must make a decision now, whether to continue this or to stop it.
“The nation must make that decision sooner than later because we cannot carry on this way.
“If they can’t eliminate and stop the corruption in the system, then,
the other alternative will be to stop the whole exercise of the fuel
subsidy.
“We must take the one that is easier and the one that will bring less pain to Nigerians,” he said.
Mark commended the lawmakers for supporting the quick passage of the supplementary appropriation, in the interest of the masses.
He said the proposal should have been forwarded in good time to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.
“They should have anticipated that there was going to be a shortfall
when they first made this presentation at the beginning of the year.
“That did not happen. We are now shouldered with the responsibility of this additional approval.
“We have done so in the best interest of this country,” Mark added.
The approval followed a motion by the Deputy Senate Leader, Abdul
Ningi, that the supplementary budget be given accelerated passage “in
view of the emergency nature of the bill.”
All the senators expressed support for the passage of the bill saying
that it would alleviate the suffering of Nigerians, ensure peace and
stability of the nation.
Senator Smart Adeyemi faulted the national economic team for the delay in the presentation of its request for additional funds.
He, however, said, ”As representatives of the people, we have to
support this request because it would improve the wellbeing of the
masses.”
In his contribution, Sen. Ayogu Eze (PDP-Enugu), hailed the Federal
Government for acknowledging that there was large scale corruption in
the subsidy scheme.
He urged Nigerians to support the government’s effort to address the graft in the oil subsidy regime.
“It is a challenge for Nigerians to decide whether to allow few
individuals to continue to feed fat on our commonwealth or to stop this
process that encourages corruption,” Eze said.
Senator Ahmed Lawan (ANPP- Yobe) urged the Senate to henceforth
scrutinise government expenditure before considering requests for
supplementary appropriation.
“We need to be very thorough and insist on getting relevant information in good time before we do supplementary budgets.
“They talk about forensic audit but we have not seen the report. There is no evidence to show that we require N161.6 billion.
“I support the passage of this bill for the sake of my people,” he said.
Senator Gbenga Ashafa (ACN- Lagos), appealed to the Senate Committee
on Petroleum (Downstream)to conclude investigation into the management
of the fuel subsidy.
“While I support the passage (of this bill), I want this Senate to
ensure that investigation into the fuel subsidy is completed because
Nigerians need to know,” Ashafa stressed.
Senator Nkechi Nwaogu (PDP-Abia), blamed opposition political parties
for protesting against government’s move to totally remove the oil
subsidy.
According to her, the corruption being witnessed in the subsidy
would have been nipped in the bud if the people have supported the
attempt to scrap the subsidy.
“It is not the fault of the President, or is it the fault of PDP but
it’s the fault of the opposition parties which would not allow the total
removal of fuel subsidy,” the senator noted.
NAN reports that the supplementary budget is for the payment of the
outstanding arrears resulting from the forensic audit exercise of the
fuel subsidy.
This is to ensure a steady supply of petroleum products during the festive season, according to President Jonathan.
Source: NAN
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