CNPP Chairman, Alhaji Balarabe Musa

Onyebuchi Ezigbo

As the controversy raised by the revelations of fuel subsidy probe continues to reverberate, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) Wednesday asked the Federal Government to make the various probe committee reports available for public.

CNPP Chairman, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, who addressed journalists yesterday in Abuja,  said the body has given  a seven-day ultimatum to the Ministry of Finance within which to make available to it reports on the fuel subsidy submitted by the various ad hoc committees set up by the Federal Government.

In a letter addressed to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, CNPP demanded the reports by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhede, and the report of the House of Representatives.

Musa said CNPP was acting in line with the Freedom of Information Act as well as  the Federal Government’s passion to wage war against corruption.

He said access to the reports will enable CNPP assist in the forensic audit aimed at the recovery of the stolen subsidy funds.

The letter said available records showed that billions wasted in the fuel subsidy scam could have been utilised to build two refineries with the capacity to refine over 500,000 barrels per day.
While expressing worry  over  the persistent fuel scarcity in the country, CNPP warned against using the subsidy report to wage a personal war on perceived enemies.

It called on the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) to allow Capital Oil and Gas Limited to commence operations, saying that the current fuel scarcity in the country can be attributable to the closure of a major downstream storage facility.

“AMCON should note that the fuel scarcity in the country may be linked to the closure of the major downstream storage facility, in which case it may consider to allow Capital Oil to resume operations and work out modality for payment.”

The former Kaduna State Governor said CNPP was at a loss how the report treated some  beneficiaries  of the fuel subsidy scam through which billions of naira was channeled into.

In the  letter CNPP  said government  was yet to tell Nigerians which companies fleeced off N232 billion from the subsidy funds, alleging that it has also glossed over and subverted the 1999 Constitution  in approving payment to the humongous amount of N2.5 trillion over the N245 billion duly appropriated in 2011 budget.