Subsidy Payment: FG Dares Oil Marketers, Says N159bn Claims Reeks Of Fraud
SAN FRANCISCO, May 25, (THEWILL) – As Nigerians continue to groan under the pains of fuel scarcity due to the strike embarked upon by oil importers and marketers, the Federal Government weekend described the claims being put forward as subsidy payment by the oil importers as fraudulent.
Vowing not to sign the claims until properly verified by a Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, accused the oil importers of submitting suspicious payment claims to the tune of N159billion in exchange rate differentials.
“Marketers were asking for N159 billion for exchange rate differentials from the outstanding N200 billion. There has been so much fraud and scam so I have refused to sign for that money but have agreed that a committee be set up involving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to verify marketers' claims…Marketers just want to make Nigerians suffer,” the Minister told journalists at a valedictory meeting held with them in Abuja weekend.
Advising Nigerians to resist what she alleged as the blackmail by the marketers, she insisted that the current fuel scarcity has nothing to do with subsidy payment to the marketers.
“They are making a lot of money from black market activities, people should rise up against the blackmail of oil marketers.
“I will not pay the N159 billion without verification, Nigerians should not allow themselves to be blackmailed,” she said.
Explaining that the supply of and payment for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) was surrounded by curiousity, she said: “I cannot say that the problem is due to not paying marketers, the process of paying marketers is always a rolling process and there has never been a time government reduced its financial obligation to marketers to zero.
“In a year where so much effort has been made to pay marketers including prioritising their payment as subsidy claims in favour of other financial obligation like paying contractors, yet fuel scarcity still persists at this particular point in time suggests that something suspicious is happening.”
The Minister who also faulted the claim by Vice President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, that the Jonathan administration will be leaving a $60 billion debt burden for the in-coming government, said Nigeria's total debt stands at $63.7 billion, stressing that it is the totality of all the debts incurred by successive governments since 1960.
“No $60 billion was accumulated under the Jonathan administration . Current debt stock includes both federal and state governments debts made up of $9.7 billion external debt or 15 per cent of total debt stock and $54 billion or 85 per cent domestic debt stock.
“Nigeria is still repaying the multilateral loans it collected on concessionary terms with as long as 40 years maturity periods,” she stated.
Breaking down the figures, she said the accumulated domestic stock is $18.575 billion outstanding by 2007, $17.3 billion accumulated between 2008 and 2011 and $18 billion accumulated between 2012 and 2015.
According to her, “This is so because of something that happened in 2010 because of the salary increment under Yar'Adua administration which increased civil servants salaries by 53 per cent.
“Those bonds have been rolled over and government had to weather the difficulties because resources to fund such increase were not there.”
Describing Nigeria's debt to GDP ratio as one of the lowest in the world, she also spoke on the domestic debt stock, saying 20 per cent is owed by state governments with Lagos State having an external debt burden of N1.169 trillion while the balance of 80 per cent belongs to the federal government.
Okonjo-Iweala said she had no regrets in serving the country even as she declared that anyone called upon to serve Nigeria should consider it a privilege.
“Some people criticise from afar but some came home in spite of challenges to serve,” she said as she faulted suggestions that the economy was mismanaged.
Her words: “The economy is reacting to the forces of demand and supply but there is hope for the country. Only that people will have to make sacrifices.”
She maintained that the out-going government achieved a lot but lamented what she described as serious attempts by some people to rewrite history.