Reps summon Auditor-General of the Federation over fuel subsidy payments

Reps summon Auditor-General of the Federation over fuel subsidy payments

The Nigerian House of Reps has agreed to summon the Auditor General of the Federation, Mr Okolieaboh Sylvia over documentary evidence on the audit carried out on the monies spent on fuel subsidy.

This was disclosed by Rep. Ibrahim Aliyu, the Chairman, Special ad hoc Committee on fuel subsidy, in Abuja on Thursday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

He stated that the Committee is seeking relevant financial transactions on the fuel subsidy for the period under review.

What Reps are saying

Rep Ibrahim Aliyu said the auditor General is to appear before on August 30 for an explanation of fuel subsidy payments between 2013 and 2022.

They request that the auditor-general provides documentary evidence on the audit carried out on the monies spent on fuel subsidy by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd for the period.

Rep Aliyu made this known during the scrutiny of documents submitted by the representative of the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGoF), Mr Okolieaboh Sylvia, who was represented by the Director, of Federation Accounts, Mr Mohammed Saleh.

It also demanded AGoF to provide relevant financial transactions on the fuel subsidy for the period under review, citing a bid to ensure fair hearing as enshrined in the law. The committee said it was expecting the AGoF to appear before it on the 8th of September with relevant documents.

It also urged the Auditor General to implement an independent monitoring system to verify the veracity of the transactions, citing the importance of due diligence after Rep. Mark Gbillah (PDP-Benue) identified some discrepancies in the amount computed in the NNPC documents.

What you should know

  • The costs of fuel subsidy in Nigeria increased by 890% over a five-year period (2017-2021) in Nigeria even though fuel prices have only increased by 12.1%.
  • This was disclosed by socioeconomic research firm, SBM Intelligence in its report titled “Growing fuel prices and transport costs: Which way Nigeria.”