Ogor: Jonathan’s Govt Never Paid N413bn for Subsidy in One Go

 Leader in the House of Representatives Hon. Leo Ogor

• Says subsidy no longer sustainable

The Minority Leader in the House of Representatives Hon. Leo Ogor (Delta PDP), has raised questions over the N413.36 billion being appropriated by President Muhammadu Buhari as emergency provision for petrol subsidy in the 2015 supplementary budget, saying the past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan never paid such a huge amount in one go.

Speaking with THISDAY in an interview, Ogor added that the subsidy regime was no longer sustainable, especially as the masses do not really benefit from it, but instead continue to buy fuel above the official price or have to endure long queues.

Ogor spoke against the backdrop of the protest by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during his presentation at the second reading of the budget last Thursday, where he also raised concerns over the extra-budgetary expenditure by the executive in respect of N1.5 billion for the already concluded All African Games.

“First, the government is trying to pay a subsidy of about N413billion; that is the highest figure ever as one lump payment. Be mindful of the fact that the price of petrol has dropped drastically in respect of the international price of crude.

Today, the budget was predicated on $48 per barrel, but we should look at how long there has been a drop in the price of oil. What has led to this high increase of subsidy specifically when the APC government has continuously insisted that the subsidy is a fraud?,”  he said.

“That is why I insisted that yes, we are going to pass the budget, there is no problem in passing the budget, but the committee on finance which is a committee of the house and not a committee of a political party should go in and do a proper research and query why we should be paying subsidy at such a high rate when the price of crude oil is dropping,” Ogor said.

The Minority Leader added that the amount being appropriated raises fundamental questions on the sustainability of the government subsiding the product, and called for a debate to determine the advantages and disadvantages of the policy.

“Can we sustain it? Can we continue to subsidise imported products? Can we continue to use resources from a primary product that we export, and use the proceeds to buy a finished product thereby funding employment opportunities for other nations? Is there room for competition? Can we allow other people to step into the market so that they can create an effective competition? Can we survive this whole exercise?,” he queried.

Speaking on the timing of the supplementary budget’s submission, Ogor said the timing was indicative that the federal government would not submit next year’s budget before 2015 run’s out. This, he said, was unconstitutional, citing Section 11 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

“So automatically the only way out is for us to either extend the financial year to about April and see how we can work out the modality and the methodology of having the medium-term expenditure frame work accepted by the House and now have a budget to be treated. Because there is no way we can carry on with the way things are at the moment,” he said.