PDP, APC Reps clash over kerosene subsidy

Peoples Democratic Party members in the House of
Representatives and their All Progressives
Congress colleagues nearly exchanged blows on
Wednesday over the investigation into the N1.7tn
spent on kerosene subsidy by the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation.
The House Committee on Petroleum Resources
(Downstream), which is conducting the
investigation, had summoned the Director General,
Budget Office of the Federation, Dr. Bright Okogu, to
testify.
But, trouble started when Okogu addressed the
committee and was questioned by the APC
members.
Some of the APC members had asked him to tell the
committee where the NNPC got the legal backing to
deduct kerosene subsidy before remitting revenue
to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
But PDP members opposed the line of questioning
by their APC colleagues. They argued that NNPC
officials should answer questions relating to the
corporation’s operations and not the Budget Office
DG.
At this point, one APC lawmaker from Kaduna State,
Mr. Bala Yusuf, stated that there should be no
boundaries on questions.
“Let us not downplay the significance of this
gathering by arguing along party lines because this
is an issue of serious national importance,” he
advised.
In his bid to restore order, the Chairman of the
committee, Mr. Dakuku Peterside, also an APC
member from Rivers State, objected to a point of
order raised by some PDP members.
But the PDP members accused him of being
partisan.
The vocal PDP members were Mr. Raphael Nnnana-
Igbokwe, Mr. Emmanuel Ekong, and Mr. Sunday
Karimi.
Igbokwe in particular, shouted at Yusuf and
Peterside saying, “This is not a private enterprise;
again, this is not the Committee on Finance.”
As Peterside struggled to restore order, he shouted,
“If your (Peterside) ruling is biased, we will
challenge the ruling.
“This is not a private enterprise. Let the NNPC
answer questions relating to its operations. You
(Peterside) cannot hold the DG, Budget Office
responsible for NNPC operations.”
On his part, Karimi asked, “DG, do you have the
competence and authority to speak for the NNPC or
the Central Bank of Nigeria?”
Okogu replied that he could not answer questions
that should ordinarily be directed at the
management of the NNPC.
In his efforts to dismiss the claim that he was taking
sides, Peterside said, “From time to time, we have
our misunderstanding. We are before the public, let
us respect ourselves as gentlemen.”
As disagreements persisted, Peterside adjourned
the session for a few hours to allow time for
tempers to cool down.
Before the adjournment, Okogu had confirmed that
the budget office had not make any provision for
kerosene subsidy in the national budgets since
2010.
However, he clarified that the NNPC was in
business and must find a way to pay for any extra
expenditure it incurred above the officially approved
price of the product.
He said, “If they (NNPC) buy kerosene from the
international market at $1 per litre for instance and
sells for less than half of a dollar, they must pay for
the shortfall due to the subsidised nature of the
product.
“So, it only makes a business sense if they source
money elsewhere to pay for such amount that must
have been cut down from the cost which the
consumers must have borne.”
The committee resumed two and half hours and
investigation progressed smoothly.