Diezani faults subsidy probe report …says only court, not Reps, can rule on payments

[DT]

Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke yesterday faulted the House of Representative Ad hoc Committee Report that investigated the petroleum subsidy payment from 2009 to 2011.

The indicted top government officials for complicity in the mismanagement of more than N1 trillion in 2009-2011. Speaking yesterday at the ministerial platform in Abuja, Alison-Madueke said the report contained many issues that her ministry rejected.

She said some of the controversial issues include the reversal of the kerosene subsidy by the present administration, which according to her, there wasn't anything wrong with what they have done in that regard.

Some of the allegations against the minister by the committee include a unilateral reintroduction of kerosene subsidy in spite of a subsisting presidential directive stopping the continued inclusion of the commodity in the subsidy scheme.

But she said that the former president and the minister of the then petroleum resources in 2009 stopped the subsidy on kerosene but they didn't formally gazetted the price change or publish the notice in the media.

Alison-Madueke also said only the court of law can determine whether the deductions of subsidy fund from the source by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporations NNPC was legal or not.

The minister said even though she is not a lawyer, but she believed that  a constitutional issues  like that can only be interpreted by a competent court of law.

The report accused the NNPC of directly deducting from funds for the Federation Account in contravention of Section 162 of the constitution and illegal granting of price differential of crude oil price per barrel to NNPC to the tune of N108 billion from 2009-2011.

On subsidy, Alison-Maduake said government has not fixed date for the removal of the petroleum products subsidy in the country.

Daily Trust