The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has said that the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited withheld about N8.4 trillion which would have been part of revenue accruing to Nigeria in the guise that it was; used to pay for subsidy.
Chairman of RMAFC, Mohammed Shehu, who made this known in a statement yesterday, said the commission was; solidly behind the removal of the subsidy because it has; become a major drain on the nation’s scarce resources.
RMAFC
Shehu said the commission had; consistently expressed its position on the issue of petrol subsidy removal; since the time of the late Hamman Tukur who chaired the commission during the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo, former president.
He said the agency’s position was; premised on the fact that the continued “payment of humongous amounts to a privileged few in the name of subsidy” was; a major drain on the nation’s scarce resources.
According to him, “the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited — one of the major sources of revenue to the federation account — had since stopped contributing to the national purse due to the subsidy regime.
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“As one of the 14 federal executive bodies established by section 153 (1)(n) and; empowered by paragraph 32 (a) and (c) of part 1 of the third schedule of the 1999 constitution (as amended), RMAFC has; the constitutional mandate to monitor the accruals to and; disbursement of revenue from the federation account and also; advise federal and state governments on fiscal efficiency and methods by which their revenue can be increased.”
The chairman described the president’s pronouncement on the elimination of the petrol subsidy as a masterstroke that broke the jinx.
This, he said was; the appropriate step in the right direction.
Benefits
“The country can no longer sustain fuel subsidies; whose demerits far outweigh its benefits to the citizenry. It is saddening to note that since January 1, 2022, to date, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has not been; contributing to the federation account due to the claimed subsidy payments,” he said.
“The total amount withheld by the NNPCL; as claimed subsidies for this period amounted to N8,480,204,553,608.13 as reported by the office of the accountant general of the federation (OAGF) which is; yet to be reconciled by the RMAFC, OAGF, and NNPCL.”
