The House of Representatives has called for a forensic audit of the N413 billion loan obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for subsidy payments in 2015. The House wants to ascertain if the loan was refunded after the passage of the 2015 budget as approved by the President at that time.
The House also urged President Bola Tinubu to design measures and palliatives to cushion the effects of subsidy removal for Nigerians effective from this year 2023.
The House suggested the provision and procurement of CNG buses as an alternative transport system with cheaper fuel consumption, and the introduction of intermodal, regional, and national transport systems to ease mass movement of people across the country.
These were part of the recommendations of the Ad-hoc Committee on the Need to Investigate the Petroleum Products Subsidy Regime in Nigeria from 2013–2022, which was adopted by the House during plenary on Thursday.
The Chairman of the Committee, Ibrahim Mustapha Aliyu, who presented the report, said the investigation was necessitated by the need to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of public funds.
The report also advised the Federal Government to suspend all Direct Sales Direct Purchase (DSDP) contracts with the subsidy removal, and mandate the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to act by the provision of the Petroleum Industrial Act (PIA) to ensure that the country is not sub-changed in production, lifting and sales of crude.
Furthermore, the report urged the Federal Government to liaise with the National Assembly to fashion out critical areas of economic development, which the additional revenue from the proposed subsidy removal will be appropriately utilized.
