The Senate on Thursday, passed the supplementary
appropriation bill of N161.6 billion. The amount will serve as payment for fuel
subsidy to oil marketers for 2012.
President Goodluck Jonathan had on Tuesday sent a request to
the National Assembly to approve an additional N161.6 billion to ensure steady
supply of petroleum products during the festive season.
Senate President, Sen. David Mark, however, decried the high
level of corruption being perpetrated under the fuel subsidy scheme, the News
Agency of Nigeria reports.
He urged the Federal Government to stop the fuel subsidy if
it was unable to stop the high level of corruption being perpetrated under the
scheme.
“It is not a secret anymore that there is so much corruption
in the fuel subsidy industry in whatever system they are adopting.
“The nation must make a decision now, whether to continue
this or to stop it.
“The nation must make that decision sooner than later
because we cannot carry on this way.
“If they can’t eliminate and stop the corruption in the
system, then, the other alternative will be to stop the whole exercise of the
fuel subsidy.
“We must take the one that is easier and the one that will
bring less pain to Nigerians,” he said.
Mark commended the lawmakers for supporting the quick passage
of the supplementary appropriation, in the interest of the masses.
He said the proposal should have been forwarded in good time
to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.
“They should have anticipated that there was going to be a
shortfall when they first made this presentation at the beginning of the year.
“That did not happen. We are now shouldered with the
responsibility of this additional approval.
“We have done so in the best interest of this country,” Mark
added.
The approval followed a motion by the Deputy Senate Leader,
Abdul Ningi, that the supplementary budget be given accelerated passage “in
view of the emergency nature of the bill.”
All the senators expressed support for the passage of the
bill saying that it would alleviate the suffering of Nigerians, ensure peace
and stability of the nation.
Senator Smart Adeyemi faulted the national economic team for
the delay in the presentation of its request for additional funds.
He, however, said, ”As representatives of the people, we
have to support this request because it would improve the wellbeing of the
masses.”
In his contribution, Sen. Ayogu Eze (PDP-Enugu), hailed the
Federal Government for acknowledging that there was large scale corruption in
the subsidy scheme.
He urged Nigerians to support the government’s effort to
address the graft in the oil subsidy regime.
“It is a challenge for Nigerians to decide whether to allow
few individuals to continue to feed fat on our commonwealth or to stop this
process that encourages corruption,” Eze said.
Senator Ahmed Lawan (ANPP- Yobe) urged the Senate to
henceforth scrutinise government expenditure before considering requests for
supplementary appropriation.
“We need to be very thorough and insist on getting relevant
information in good time before we do supplementary budgets.
“They talk about forensic audit but we have not seen the
report. There is no evidence to show that we require N161.6 billion.
“I support the passage of this bill for the sake of my
people,” he said.
Senator Gbenga Ashafa (ACN- Lagos), appealed to the Senate
Committee on Petroleum (Downstream)to conclude investigation into the
management of the fuel subsidy.
“While I support the passage (of this bill), I want this
Senate to ensure that investigation into the fuel subsidy is completed because
Nigerians need to know,” Ashafa stressed.
Senator Nkechi Nwaogu (PDP-Abia), blamed opposition
political parties for protesting against government’s move to totally remove
the oil subsidy.
According to her, the corruption being witnessed in the
subsidy would have been nipped in the
bud if the people have supported the attempt to scrap the subsidy.
“It is not the fault of the President, or is it the fault of
PDP but it’s the fault of the opposition parties which would not allow the
total removal of fuel subsidy,” the senator noted.
NAN reports that the supplementary budget is for the payment
of the outstanding arrears resulting from the forensic audit exercise of the
fuel subsidy.
This is to ensure a steady supply of petroleum products
during the festive season, according to President Jonathan.
Source: NAN
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