*Says Buhari can’t claim ignorance of the whole issue
Former Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda has said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), petroleum markers and other are involved in the fuel subsidy scam the country has suffered in so many years.
Yuguda, who blamed the lack of a political will on the part of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s, said Buhari had before becoming President in 2015 described subsidy as a scam yet he did nothing to end it.
Yuguda, who said this on ChannelsTV on Monday in Abuja, insisted that the subsidy regime was a scam that was perpetuated by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in collaboration with marketers and other stakeholders.
He said: “I am sad to let Nigerians know what I saw; we came across situations where subsidy was claimed on pipelines that never existed.
“We were subsidizing West Africa, we were bringing in this fuel at an elevated cost and then half of it was exported out by the same group that is supposed to supply this fuel in Nigeria. Are the security doing their jobs, are other security agencies that are supposed to sanction those that are taking our fuel out of Nigeria doing their jobs?
“Secondly, when I chaired that committee on subsidy that uncovered the scam, I told you that subsidy was being paid on pipelines that never pumped products. In fact, forms were just filled and subsidies are paid, and to whom are they paid? – to the marketers.
“Those that claim to pump the products and those that are in the subsidy scam, they just fill papers, invoices and they claim subsidy on it. They have no heart, these people, they are just heartless,” Yuguda said.
Yuguda, who is the Chairman of the APC Forum, a professional think-tank, said that the subsidy racket “was a sophisticated gang up and those that should act are also part of it. President Buhari cannot claim ignorance of the whole issue,” he added.
Recently, after a visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ex-militant leader, Asari Dokubo had said:
“I also want to say that oil theft is encouraged by the military. The Army and the Navy intimidate the (Nigeria Security and) Civil Defence (Corps) who are by status the people who are supposed to guard these pipelines. They receive a lot of money from NNPCL and the IOCs and just across the corner, you will see a houseboat.
“We have seen that situation. You have a situation that is completely different. The government thought they could run the economy through borrowing. This is the time as a matter of necessity.
“If Mr President can have the will to go after all those government officials that were responsible for hemorrhaging the economy, 70-80 per cent of what they have taken out of Nigeria should be brought back into Nigeria. Would he continue printing money like the way that they’ve been doing through Ways and Means.
“Government cannot continue to borrow from the CBN to fund activities, it’s not possible. There is a limit to which you can borrow,” he explained.
