Subsidy: Madueke, Okonjo-Iweala, Sanusi face Senate next week

TheSenates investigation to unravel the mystery surrounding the failed subsidy scheme has been scheduled for Tuesday, next week.Those invited to appear before the joint committee of the Senate investigating the matter are the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; Central Bank Governor, Lamido Sanusi; Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Austin Oniwon, and the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.Also to appear are the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear-Admiral Ola Sahad Ibrahim; Comptroller-General of Customs, Dikko Abdullahi; and the Managing Directors of Nigeria Ports Authority and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.The joint committee of the Senate, comprising, Petroleum(Downstream), Finance and Appropriation has been mandated to conduct the investigation following a motion brought by Senator Abubakar Saraki, which highlighted the excessive and extra budgetary spending in subsidy for petroleum products.The committees terms of reference are to determine the nature of the implementation of the subsidy scheme over the years and establish the chain of beneficiaries as well as those involved in unwholesome practices.The committee will also establish the veracity of the claims that the ordinary people of the subsidy are not benefiting from the scheme after all.Chairman of the committee, Senator Magnus Abe, told our correspondent in a telephone interview on Monday that the federal agencies have up till Friday, November 18 to make their written submissions to the committee.The deadline had earlier being flouted by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Ministries of Petroleum and Finance, which also failed to appear when the hearing was scheduled to commence before the Senate went on break.Only the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, appeared, but unprepared to brief the committee, since she had not submitted her written briefs on the administration of fuel subsidy in the country.According to Okonjo-Iweala, it would be necessary to have other agencies that had been directly involved in the scheme to be present before she could make her submissions.Senator Abe said although the agencies were required to submit their briefs before Friday, he would not be able to tell who had not complied until after Friday.The investigative hearing will commence on November 22, but the agencies have up till November 18 to submit their documents, he said.Members of the committee had earlier insisted that they would require the documents and study them before the date of the hearing.
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