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ABUJA – The Senate’s sweeping investigation into Nigeria’s oil and gas finances deepened on Thursday after startling revelations showed that the country spent a staggering N1.16 trillion on fuel subsidy in 2021, while lawmakers threatened to compel the Auditor-General of the Federation to appear before an ongoing high-profile probe or face the coercive powers of the National Assembly.
The disclosures emerged during the Senate Public Accounts Committee’s hearing into the 2021–2023 audit reports of the oil and gas sector conducted by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), where the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Dr. Mohammed Bello Shehu, laid bare the scale of deductions from the nation’s crude oil earnings.
Shehu told the committee that beyond the N1.16 trillion expended on fuel subsidy, another N1.20 trillion was deducted directly from federation crude sales proceeds during the year under review, raising fresh concerns over the management of Nigeria’s oil revenues.
He further disclosed that crude oil and petroleum product losses accounted for N16.20 billion, while pipeline repairs consumed N22.05 billion and strategic stock holding attracted N6.75 billion, adding to the mounting financial burden on the federation.
The RMAFC chairman also questioned the computation of the constitutional 13 percent derivation fund, insisting that the existing method defeats the objective intended by the constitution.
According to him, computing the derivation allocation on the balance of revenue after several deductions from total collections is inconsistent with the constitutional intention of the derivation principle.
His presentation injected fresh momentum into the Senate’s far-reaching audit probe, which is scrutinising billions of naira in oil sector transactions and revenue remittances.
In another dramatic twist, the committee suspended consideration of the submission by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), directing the agency to return next Wednesday after lawmakers complete a detailed review of its report.
Tension, however, heightened when the Auditor-General of the Federation failed to appear before the committee and also failed to send a representative or any formal explanation for his absence.
The committee chairman, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, described the absence as unacceptable and warned that the auditor-general must appear without fail at the next sitting scheduled for Tuesday.
Dankwambo declared that failure to honour the invitation would leave the committee with no option than to invoke the constitutional powers of the National Assembly to compel his appearance.
“The Auditor-General must unfailingly appear before this committee on Tuesday next week or risk invocation of the powers of the National Assembly, which will lead to his forced appearance,” the chairman warned.
