The Attorney General of the Federation, Justice Bello Mohammed Adoke is scheduled to appear before the Senate Committee on Finance this coming week in order to give an interpretation on the legality or illegality of kerosene subsidy in the country.
This was made known by the spokesperson of the NNPC, Dr. Omar Ibrahim.
The Petroleum Minister had said at the Committee on Thursday that President Umar Yaradua did not gazette his directive ordering the stop on the subsidy and thus his directive was not binding.
The Finance minister, responding to questions from the same committee said only the judiciary could determine if the subsidies were wrong or right.
Speaking to journalists Friday, Ibrahim said, “The minister had said that it would be interpreted by the judiciary through its usual process. Next week the Attorney-General of the Federation will come to the National Assembly and he will tell us whether subsidy on kerosene is legal or illegal.
“On the kerosene issue, we have two contending arguments. The NNPC says it has not received a directive and therefore cannot stop what it met on the ground. The other party says no, there is a directive, whether it is communicated through proper channel or not is immaterial.
“So we want to wait for the attorney-general because the chairman of senate committee has invited him and he will come next week Thursday. Let’s wait and see what he says because today what we are having now is a legal issue which needs a legal interpretation. Therefore it is advisable to wait and see what the legal luminaries are going to say.”
The NNPC has also been accused by a whistleblower of harbouring corrupt officials who collected N195 billion bribe from marketers who applied to lift kerosene products. The bribe was N25/litre and supposedly applied to 7.8 billion litres of the product.
Speaking on the allegation of corruption, Ibrahim said the whistleblower should come forward.
He said, “You can’t just make blanket accusations against the NNPC. It helps for you to tell us in which of our 22 depots this thing is happening. Who are the officials involved? If you don’t come out with the fact, we will not know.
“It is unfair for people to be making wild and unsubstantiated allegations or accusations against the NNPC. If people have facts to support their allegations, they should present them to us and we will investigate and take necessary actions.”
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