Governors Threaten To Takeover Fuel Subsidy Payment From NNPC

Related stories

Edwin Cortes: Prefers Being A Small Puerto Rican Than Big American

By Owei Lakemfa To be a citizen of the United...

June 12 And The International Pursuit of Justice For Abiola, By Femi Falana

The June 12, 1993, pro-democracy struggle in Nigeria is...

Breaking Down the West’s $146 Billion 2024 Defence Technology Investment

Advanced technologies like drones, sensors, and even artificial intelligence...

G7 vs. the World: GDP, Population, and Military Strength

Key Takeaways G7 countries represent 28.4% of global GDP...

US drillers cut oil and gas rigs for 10th week in a row, Baker Hughes says

U.S. energy firms this week cut the number of...

National Economic Council (NEC), comprising the 36 State Governors in the country has threatened to take over the responsibility of subsidising petroleum products in their states based on consumption following the huge amount of money being spent by the NNPC as fuel subsidy payment annually.

The Chairman of Governors’ Forum, Gov. Abdulazeez Yari of Zamfara who stated this while responding to questions after the meeting of NEC which was chaired by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the presidential villa, Abuja on Thursday, said the governors would next month (June) take decision on whether to take responsibility for the subsidy in their states or not.

He described as outrageous the N800billion being expended by the NNPC as subsidy, saying that NEC must decide whether to allow NNPC to continue with the payment or not.

“Our problem is the volume, the quantity of consumption which is not acceptable.

“Working with the governors so many decisions were taken but by next month, we are going to adopt that position either for the governors to take responsibility for the subsidy in their states based on the consumption or we look at other ways.

“For instance, if you say we paid N800 billion subsidy, you will ask who are we paying the subsidy to? And if you look at infrastructure development and capital programme of the Federal Government, it is about N1.1 trillion, almost 70 per cent of what you are spending on developing the economy.

“If there is no infrastructure development then you cannot talk about development of the economy. N800 billion is a huge amount that we must look at it, who is benefiting from it.

“So we are coming up with a strategy, we are going to meet in the month of May and June. By next meeting, we will definitely come up with a position of the government at both level of volume of what is being brought into the country and what the state and Federal Government collaborate to check,’’ he said.

The governor revealed that the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment briefed the NEC on the establishment of the Nigerian Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council which was approved by Federal Executive Council (FEC) in 2017.

“The Industrial Council recognises that there is need for collaboration between the Federal Government (FG), State and Local Government to drive the industrialisation agenda.

“The briefing today was to present the eight initiatives and recommendations from the Industrial Council that requires State Governments intervention,’’ he added.

Yari said the Advisory Council requested NEC to approve the proposals to address the bottlenecks identified in order to drive the Industrialisation agenda.

He, however, said that the Council while welcoming the prayers resolved that the Nigeria Communication Commission should go and outline its plans and communicate same to the State Governors in the next meeting.

'Dotun Akintomide
'Dotun Akintomide
'Dotun Akintomide's journalism works intersect business, environment, politics and developmental issues. Among a number of local and international publications, his work has appeared in the New York Times. He's a winner of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Award. Currently, the Online Editor at The New Diplomat, Akintomide has produced reports that uniquely spoke to Nigeria's experience on Climate Change issues. When Akintomide is not writing, volunteering or working on a media project, you can find him seeing beautiful sites like the sandy beaches that bedecked the Lagos coastline.

Subscribe

- Never miss a story with notifications

- Gain full access to our premium content

- Browse free from up to 5 devices at once

Latest stories

NDN
Latest News
Edwin Cortes: Prefers Being A Small Puerto Rican Than Big AmericanJune 12 And The International Pursuit of Justice For Abiola, By Femi FalanaBreaking Down the West’s $146 Billion 2024 Defence Technology InvestmentG7 vs. the World: GDP, Population, and Military StrengthUS drillers cut oil and gas rigs for 10th week in a row, Baker Hughes saysExclusive! Tinubu Tips Late Ajimobi's Wife, Florence, Others for Ambassadorial PostsTinubu Mourns, Pays Tribute to Legendary Super Eagles Goalkeeper Peter RufaiNatasha vs Akpabio: Court Orders Senate President To Recall Senator NatashaHadi Sirika Denies Defection to ADC Coalition Rumors, Reaffirms Loyalty to Buhari, APCChina Snubs U.S. Crude for Third Month, Even as Ethane Trade RestartsHow Super Eagles Icon Peter Rufai passed Away at 61Dakuku Peterside’s Beneath the Surface Book Out in OctoberOil Prices Dip on Confirmation of Inventory BuildBuhari In Stable Condition - Ex-Aide ConfirmsBREAKING: Ex-President Buhari sick, hospitalised abroad
X whatsapp