Nigeria spent N1.16 trillion on fuel subsidy in 2021, the Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, (RMAFC), Dr Mohammed Shehu, told the Senate Public Accounts Committee on Thursday.
Shehu disclosed this while briefing the committee during its investigation into the 2021 to 2023 audit reports on the oil and gas sector prepared by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
According to him, another N1.20 trillion was deducted from proceeds realised from federation crude oil sales during the period under review.
He said other deductions included N16.20 billion for crude and petroleum product losses, N22.05 billion for pipeline repairs and N6.75 billion for strategic stock holding.
Shehu also criticised the current method of calculating the 13 per cent derivation for oil-producing states, arguing that it defeats the objective of the constitutional provision.
“The practice of computing 13 per cent derivation on the balance of revenue after deductions from the total collections is contrary to the intention of the derivation objective,” he said.
Meanwhile, the committee postponed consideration of the report submitted by the Niger Delta Development Commission to allow members study the document ahead of its next sitting on August 12.
The committee’s chairman, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, also expressed displeasure over the absence of the Auditor-General of the Federation at the hearing, noting that neither the Auditor-General nor a representative appeared before the panel.
He warned that the Auditor-General must attend the committee’s next sitting or face legislative sanctions.
“The Auditor-General must unfailingly appear before this committee on Tuesday next week or risk invocation of powers of the National Assembly against him, which will lead to forced appearance,” he said.
