The House of Representatives yesterday mandated its committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) to conduct an investigative hearing on the expenditure and subsidy on kerosene.
The committee was also asked to ascertain the actual amount spent on kerosene subsidy from 2010 to 2013; establish the source of the money used in financing kerosene subsidy and the relevant budgetary approval; determine the companies benefiting from the subsidy; establish the extent (if any) to which the subsidized kerosene gets to the consumers at the regulated price and also investigate all incidental issues relating to kerosene supply and distribution.
The hearing followed a motion moved by Adeyinka Ajayi (Osun) that the investigation be conducted into the matter.
In the synopsis of his motion, Ajayi said that kerosene, being the only source of energy for millions of Nigerians, was scarce and sells at an exorbitant price, wondering if kerosene was subsidised in Nigeria and who authorised it.
He had earlier noted that kerosene, which is supposedly sold to marketers at N40.90, hardly got to the consumers at the regulated price as it was only the Nigerian National Petroleum, NNPC, retail outlets that sold the product at N50 per litre, while other major and independent marketers retailed the product at between N130-N135 per liter.
The lawmaker also drew the attention of the House to the N634 billion said to have been spent on kerosene subsidy between 2010 and 2012.
According to Ajayi, the House should be more “concerned about the alleged racketeering going on at NNPC where allegations are rife that kerosene is purchased from the depot by dealers at between N65 to N75 per liter which in turn makes it commercially impossible to resell to Nigerians at the recommended retail price of N50.”
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