To say that that the serial gaffes of the National Assembly particularly the lower chamber are becoming very embarrassing is to put it mild. Are they not ashamed that each time they come up with an allegation they end up making themselves look like children simply because they base almost all their allegations on malice and self-serving intentions rather than genuine patriotism? Truth be told, corruption or rather “settlement’ is at the root of it all if not, what can they show they’ve achieved by these everyday “Okija shrine” summons? How many times have they threatened the NNPC and the Petroleum minister with probes this year alone?
Now, barely a few days from an earlier vacuous threat to probe the crude-for product swap deal between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and two Swiss traders, the House of Representatives has again ordered an investigation into the “suspected misappropriation” by the NNPC and the PPPRA of the funds allegedly set aside to subsidize kerosene for domestic use.
To say that that the serial gaffes of the National Assembly particularly the lower chamber are becoming very embarrassing is to put it mild. Are they not ashamed that each time they come up with an allegation they end up making themselves look like children simply because they base almost all their allegations on malice and self-serving intentions rather than genuine patriotism? Truth be told, corruption or rather “settlement’ is at the root of it all if not, what can they show they’ve achieved by these everyday “Okija shrine” summons? How many times have they threatened the NNPC and the Petroleum minister with probes this year alone?
Now, barely a few days from an earlier vacuous threat to probe the crude-for product swap deal between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and two Swiss traders, the House of Representatives has again ordered an investigation into the “suspected misappropriation” by the NNPC and the PPPRA of the funds allegedly set aside to subsidize kerosene for domestic use.
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As reported, the lower chamber of the National Assembly is vexed that kerosene was not made available to consumers at the regulated price of N50 despite an alleged N634 billion set aside to subsidize the product in the last three years.
The House asked its committee to establish: the source of money utilised to fund the kerosene subsidy and whether it was duly appropriated by the National Assembly; determine the companies benefiting from the payments; establish the extent to which the subsidised kerosene gets to the end users; as well as investigate all other incidental issues relating to kerosene supply and distribution.
Annoyingly, right from the onset again, they have bungled this kerosene issue because of their haste to sentence NNPC and the petroleum minister to death. Of course, there is a criminal racket going on in kerosene business in this country but if the House of Representatives meant to probe “suspected misappropriation” of the alleged N634 billion set aside for subsidy on kerosene, then the NNPC should be the last interest to be summoned because it has no single business with subsidy on kerosene. And our lawmakers should have known this.
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It’s a shame that members of critical committees of the National Assembly seem not to have a firm grip or even a working knowledge of the sectors they claim to be over-sighting. What is the difference between the issues in the NNPC-Swiss traders’ deal and that of availability of kerosene at regulated price? Is the bottom-line not appropriate costing or rather pricing-whether of crude or products? Indiscriminate probes into the same issue of availability of petroleum products and the subsidy thereof, only displays our lawmakers as naïve and uninformed.
By the way, if actually the House “suspected” any wrong doing in the use of kerosene subsidy money, is it the NNPC and the Minister of Petroleum they should be asking questions? Does Diezani and her NNPC pay out monies as subsidies for whatever? Why is it the House not first asking the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and the Minister of Finance, two government officials directly responsible for disbursing subsidy monies, to explain what happened? So from day one, those who have eyes have seen that it is not actually about the use or misuse of our collective wealth but about persons and offices. We should get more serious in this country, walahai.
Let me educate our law/probe-makers again as I did in the “NNPC/Swiss Traders Fraud: The Facts Of The Matter.”
The NNPC has nothing at all to do with the N634 billion alleged kerosene subsidy money because the corporation was never involved in kerosene subsidy payments as it currently runs.
The lawmakers alleged that the country spent N110 billion, N320 billion and N200 billion in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively, without providing corresponding palliatives for Nigerians. The question the House should answer is: In the three years cited, did they appropriate a kobo for kerosene subsidy to the NNPC? And if you don’t give me money to buy something for you, why should you ask me to account how I bought and sold my stuff?
Is the National Assembly aware that from January 2011 to September 2013, available data has it that the NNPC supplied 332, 520, 875 litres of kerosene into the Nigerian market? Can they please ask themselves and the Presidency (together you are the Federal Government sometimes you don’t even add the Judiciary) through the Ministry of Finance whether NNPC was ever paid a kobo either as subsidy for kerosene or even as operating cost of bringing in the product since 2011 till date?
This is the matter: The kerosene issue started during the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration when he directed the PPPRA in 2008 to stop paying subsidy on kerosene. But following protests by petroleum marketers against the directive, the late President was compelled to set up an inter-ministerial committee to examine the merits and demerits of his directive. The committee was said to have advised against the earlier decision to halt subsidy on kerosene. Though the then President agreed with the committee on the need to resume payment of subsidy on kerosene, there was no counter-directive from the Presidency until the man died.
And because of the supremacy tussle for whatever reasons between the NNPC and Nigeria’s most senseless political contraption called Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the later, refused to resume payment of subsidy on kerosene pretending to be relying on the discarded directive of Yara’adua who died over three years ago simply because no counter directive was issued before the man died. And even bros Jona no send!
Our lawmakers should be told that the above scenario was what forced marketers to completely withdraw from importation of kerosene. Who was ready to bring in kerosene when there was no assurance that the differential between the open market prices and the government regulated price of N50 per litre would be offset by government? Nobody! NNPC keyed into this gap to do their things as usual because the usual story has always been that the over 80 percent of Nigerian that rely on kerosene for cooking and other things must be served except the government was ready to face the consequences.
Most of the other marketers now prefer buying from the NNPC imports at between N65 and N75 (against the supposed N40.90) per litre. This in turn makes it commercially impossible to resell to Nigerians at the recommended retail price of N50. This is the reason kerosene sells at between N130- N200 per litre across the country.
If the PPPRA, the regulatory agency in charge of fixing the price of kerosene was convinced that subsidies were paid to marketers including the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association Of Nigeria, (IPMAN), Depot And Petroleum Products Marketers Association, (DAPPMA), Major Marketers Association Of Nigeria (MOMAN) and NNPC Retail Limited, which sell to the general public through their various outlets, why are they not enforcing compliance to the government regulated price of N50 per litre? You see the deceit? Is it not the responsibility of the PPPRA as the government regulatory agency to ensure that the allocated petroleum products, including kerosene, reach the consumer at the approved prices as intended by government?
The nation’s lingering kerosene problem has nothing to do with availability of the product but profiteering by players in the downstream sector, of course the NNPC is part of this racket. Because aviation fuel, Jet A1, has been very scarce and airline operators have resorted to the use of DPK (kerosene) as substitute for Jet A1, kerosene importers (NNPC and others) found it more profitable to sell the product to the airline operators that buy at more than triple the official government-pegged pump price for kerosene.
Data from the PPPRA show that the landing cost of DPK is N108.06, local distribution takes another N13.20 per litre, bringing the ex-depot price to N121.26 per litre against the federal government’s official pump price of N50 per litre. So most of the importers including the NNPC prefer selling to the airlines at N152 per litre and then whatever tickles out is given or domestic use and this is why kerosene has been selling between N130 –N150 per litre across the country and this will continue except the government agrees to start paying N71.26 as subsidy on every litre of kerosene distributed at the officially regulated price. You see the blackmail caused by inconsistencies in policies? And this is what the National Assembly should be looking at if they are serious.
IFEANYI IZEZ is an Abuja-based consultant and can be reached on: [email protected]; 234-8033043009)
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters
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