The concern raised by the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited cannot justify the volume of petrol being consumed in the country daily to warrant the over N6.34tn subsidy payment on the commodity annually is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Punch reports that Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (retd.), has stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (formerly Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) cannot justify the volume of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) being consumed in the country daily to warrant the over N6.34tn subsidy payment on the commodity annually.
Ali, in his presentation to the House of Representatives’ Committee on Finance at the continued hearing on the proposed 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper in Abuja on Thursday, argued that the NNPC cannot scientifically prove the 98 million litres/day consumption it was claiming, alleging that the nation’s oil company was supplying an excess of 38 million litres of PMS daily.
The committee had asked Ali about the like deficit of between N11tn and 12tn in the 2023 budget as proposed in the 2023-2025 MTEF/FSP.
The Federal Government is proposing a budget with estimates totalling N19.76tn, while the deficit will hover between N11.30tn and N12.41tn in the 2023 fiscal year.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, who appeared before the committee earlier on Monday, had decried that the government might be unable to provide for treasury-funded capital projects next year, especially due to dwindling revenue and annual payment of N6.34tn subsidy on petrol.
However, the NCS boss faulted the NNPC on its subsidy claims, saying, “I remember that last year we spoke about this. Unfortunately, this year, we are talking about subsidy again. The over N11tn we are going to take as debt, more than half of it is going for subsidy. The issue is not about smuggling of petroleum products. I have always argued this with NNPC.”
Ali added, “If we are consuming 60 million litres of PMS per day, by their own computation, why would you allow the release of 98 million litres per day? If you know this is our consumption, why would you allow that release? Scientifically, you cannot tell me that if I fill my tank today, tomorrow, I will fill the same tank with the same quantity of fuel. If I am operating a fuel station today and I go to Minna depot, lift petrol and take it to Kaduna, I may get to Kaduna in the evening and offload that fuel. There is no way I would have sold off that petrol immediately to warrant another load. So, how did you get to 60 million litre per day? That is my problem.
The newspaper says that the World Bank Group President, David Malpass, has said that the bank is ready to support Nigeria in phasing out regressive fuel subsidies while increasing social assistance for the poor and vulnerable.
He also stressed the need for a unified exchange rate in Nigeria, which would significantly improve the business-enabling environment in Nigeria, attract foreign direct investment, and reduce inflation.
According to a statement published on the Bank’s website on Thursday, Malpass said this when he met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The statement read in part, “President Malpass encouraged a decisive move toward exchange rate unification and stabilization by Nigeria, highlighting the economic benefits for the Nigerian people. President Malpass emphasized to Vice President Osinbajo that a unified exchange rate will significantly improve the business enabling environment in Nigeria, attract foreign direct investment, and reduce inflation.”
The statement noted that Malpass and Osinbajo discussed Nigeria’s Energy Transition Plan.
It added that Malpass welcomed Nigeria’s commitment to achieving universal energy access and reducing GHG emissions while maintaining reliable baseload.
He further stressed the importance of integrating climate and development, as well as the need for an enabling policy and regulatory environment alongside strengthened institutions in the energy sector.
The statement also noted that Malpass and Osinbajo discussed the importance of increasing domestic revenues through broadening Nigeria’s tax base and increasing the efficiency of tax administration.
In January this year, the Federal Government ignored warnings from economists and multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, deciding to retain the controversial fuel subsidies for another 18 months following threats of protests by the Nigerian Labour Congress and other interest groups.
The Guardian reports that economists have come hard on the Federal Government, as it proposes another round of borrowing for the 2023 budget year.
Unanimously, they warned government to stop borrowing, just as the Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Mrs. Patience Oniha, yesterday, confirmed that Nigeria’s dept profile as at March 2022 stood at N41.60 trillion.
Even as the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) faulted the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited over the latter’s claim of billions of naira spent on petroleum subsidy yearly.
Oniha, during her appearance at the ongoing engagement on the 2023 – 2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) held by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, yesterday, attributed Nigeria’s high debt profile to lack of revenues and approval of the yearly budget with a deficit by the National Assembly, which increased the nation’s debt stock.
She regretted that the country has been running a deficit budget for many years with an increased level of borrowing, especially since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, stressing that the only way out of the problem is improved revenue generation.
She said: “As at December 2020, the debt stock of the federal, state governments and the Federal Capital Territory was N32.92 trillion. By December 2021, it jumped to N39.556 trillion. We publish quarterly, and as at March of this year, it was N41.6 trillion. On the average, Federal Government is owing about 85 per cent of the total sum.
“We have been running deficit budget for many years and each time you approve a budget with a deficit, by the time we raise that money because when you approve it, it is giving us a mandate, authority to borrow, it will reflect in the debt stock, so debt stock will increase. Also, note that states are also borrowing. So, we add their own.
“Until the issues of personnel, overhead and capital expenditure are properly addressed in the budget, borrowing would not stop.”
The newspaper says that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in its latest global data, said that Nigeria now has about 20 million out-of-school children.
It explained that there are 244 million children and youth between the ages of six and 18 worldwide who are still out of school.
According to the statistics, India, Nigeria and Pakistan have the highest figures for out-of-school children globally.
The figure in Nigeria was between 10.5 and 13.5 million. But with insecurity and kidnapping of school children, most parents are not disposed to sending their wards to school.
UNESCO announced the figures in a statement, part of which reads: “The new estimates, published online by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, showed that sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the most children and youths out of school. It is also the only region where this number is increasing; out-of-school rates are falling more slowly than the rate at which the school-age population is growing.
“The region with the second highest out-of-school population is Central and Southern Asia with 85 million. The top three countries with the most children and youth excluded from education are: India, Nigeria and Pakistan.”
According to Director of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Silvia Montoya, efficient use of available data is important to address the gaps towards achieving the fourth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
GIK/APA