Senate Panel Questions Oil Revenue Deductions After RMAFC Disclosure
By ESTHER McWILLIS-IKHIDE
THE Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) says Nigeria spent ₦1.16 trillion on fuel subsidy in 2021. The commission also disclosed that ₦1.20 trillion was deducted from proceeds generated from federation crude oil sales.
RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Shehu, disclosed the figures on Thursday while addressing the Senate Public Accounts Committee in Abuja. The committee is examining audit reports covering Nigeria’s oil and gas sector between 2021 and 2023. The reports were prepared by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
Shehu said fuel subsidy represented one of several major deductions made from oil revenues during the period under review.
He added that crude oil and petroleum product losses amounted to ₦16.20 billion. Pipeline repairs accounted for ₦22.05 billion, while strategic stock holding attracted another ₦6.75 billion.
The RMAFC chairman also questioned the method used in calculating the constitutionally guaranteed 13 per cent derivation fund for oil-producing states.
According to him, computing derivation after deducting expenses from total oil revenue weakens the original intent of the constitutional provision. He argued that the existing approach reduces the amount due to beneficiary states.
The Senate committee also postponed consideration of the submission made by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Lawmakers said they needed more time to study the report before the commission returns on 12 August.
Committee Chairman, Senator Ibrahim Dankwambo, also criticised the absence of the Auditor-General of the Federation during the investigative hearing.
Dankwambo described the absence as unacceptable. He warned that the Auditor-General must appear before the committee at its next sitting or face compulsory summons through the constitutional powers of the National Assembly.
The hearing forms part of the Senate’s ongoing efforts to scrutinise public financial management in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and strengthen accountability in the management of petroleum revenues.
