The Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) has uncovered fresh details of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy regime, revealing that the country spent N1.16 trillion on fuel subsidy in 2021, while lawmakers threatened to compel the Auditor-General of the Federation to appear before the committee over his absence from the ongoing probe into the oil and gas sector.
The disclosure was made on Thursday by the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Dr. Mohammed Bello Shehu, during the committee’s investigation into the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) audit reports covering the 2021–2023 fiscal years.
Shehu told the committee that, in addition to the N1.16 trillion subsidy payment, another N1.20 trillion was deducted from proceeds of federation crude oil sales. He added that N16.20 billion was recorded as crude oil and petroleum product losses, N22.05 billion was spent on pipeline repairs, while N6.75 billion was deducted for strategic stock holding.
The RMAFC chairman also questioned the current method of calculating the constitutional 13 per cent derivation for oil-producing states, arguing that computing the allocation after deducting subsidy and other expenses from total oil revenue undermines the spirit of the Constitution.
“The practice of computing the 13 per cent derivation on the balance of revenue after deductions from the total collections is contrary to the intention of the derivation objective,” he said.
The committee also deferred consideration of the submission by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), directing the agency to return next Wednesday after lawmakers review the documents already submitted.
Proceedings took a dramatic turn when the Auditor-General of the Federation failed to appear before the committee or send a representative.
An angry Chairman of the committee, Senator Ibrahim Dankwabo (Gombe North), described the absence as unacceptable and warned that the National Assembly would invoke its constitutional powers to compel the Auditor-General’s attendance if he fails to honour the next invitation.
“The Auditor-General must unfailingly appear before this committee on Tuesday next week. Failure to do so will leave us with no option but to invoke the powers of the National Assembly to compel his appearance,” Dankwabo said.
The Senate’s investigation is expected to continue in the coming days as lawmakers intensify scrutiny of oil sector deductions, subsidy payments and revenue remittances contained in the NEITI audit reports.