Ayo Fayose, Ekiti state governor, has criticised Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo over his recent claim regarding fuel subsidy.
On Tuesday, Osinbajo had said the Nigerian
National Petroleum Commission (NNPC) bears the cost of fuel subsidy and
not the federal government.
His comments came after Maikanti
Baru, NNPC group managing director, said the landing cost of petrol is
now N171 as against the official retail price of N145.
But in a
statement issued by Lere Olayinka, his spokesman, Governor Fayose asked:
“What is the difference between NNPC and the federal government? Who is
NNPC and who is federal government? Is NNPC now an autonomous agency of
the federal government?”
He said contrary to what is being
presented, the NNPC does not have the rights “to swap crude oil for
subsidy” nor to spend money it generates from the sales of crude oil.
He
asked: “Where is NNPC getting the money with which it is subsidising
petrol with N26 per litre? Is NNPC spending money from the sales of
crude oil that should be paid into the federation account to pay
subsidy?
“I like the vice-president, he is a pastor and I don’t
believe that he will also join others in Buhari’s government to lie to
Nigerians.
“However, this one that he presented NNPC as an agency
of the federal government that can allocate fund without the approval
of the president is very strange to me.”
Fayose also wondered where the money “is coming from” if subsidy is being paid by the NNPC.
“Is
it from sales of crude oil? Does it now mean that the NNPC is spending
part of the proceeds of the sale of crude oil outside allocation to the
federal government by the Federation Account Allocation Committee
(FAAC)?” he asked.
“We were in Nigeria in May 2016, when the
federal government announced the removal of subsidy on petrol and went
on to increase the pump price of petrol to N145 per litre.
“The
same APC people, who protested against removal of subsidy and increment
of petrol price to N140 in 2012, defended the removal in 2016 and
increment of pump price to N145.
“In 2017 budget of the federal
government, provision was not made for the payment of fuel subsidy, so
also that of 2018. So where is the N26 they are subsidizing one litre of
petrol with coming from? Is the Buhari-led government spending fund not
appropriated by the national assembly?”
