Govs, ministers’ firms involved in subsidy scam

A member of the House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee on Subsidy Management, Dr. Ali Ahmad, has alleged that companies owned by past and serving governors, ministers and top politicians were involved in the fuel subsidy scam.

The Farouk Lawan House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee on the Management of Fuel Subsidy had in its report alleged monumental fraud in fuel subsidy payments.

Speaking to journalists in Ilorin on Sunday, Ahmad said the alleged plot to impeach the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, over the report would not succeed.

According to him, Tambuwal incurred the wrath of some powerful forces for not influencing the committee to trivalise the fuel subsidy report and for insisting on openness and transparency in the debate of the report.

He urged the government to implement the report when adopted by the House, adding that Nigerians should insist on good governance, accountability and the implementation of the report once passed by the House.

He said, “Companies belonging to past and serving governors, ministers and top politicians are involved in the scam.

“This is an opportunity for government to earn peoples’ trust and implement the report.”

He stated that from their investigation, if the crude oil export was well handled, the landing cost of fuel would reduce.

He said the alarm by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, that the N656.3bn budgetary allocation to fuel subsidy in 2012 would run out before the end of 2012 was unnecessary.

Ahmad stressed that with proper management of crude oil proceeds, there would be enough money such that even the allocation might need not be spent anymore.

He added that the government’s reasons that fluctuation of international oil price and exchange dollars equally contributed to high rise in subsidy cost were untenable and pedestrian.

He said, “With proper marketing and management of exported crude oil, government does not even need the budget for subsidy provision this year.

“Lamido Sanusi said even the N888bn will not be enough before the end 2012. They have started. Nigerians should wake up and shine their eyes. Now is April and Lamido is raising the alarm. So we might see another trillion or more before the end of 2012.