By 
Isa Yuguda, former governor of Bauchi state, on Monday, June 26, said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), oil marketers and other stakeholders in the oil sector, were involved in fuel subsidy scam.
Yuguda, who also was former minister of state for transport, while making this disclosure on Monday afternoon, said that he was privileged to serve as the chairman of a sub-committee between 2008 and 2009 under the economic meltdown period.
This development comes barely one month after President Bola Tinubu, while giving his inaugural speech, announced the removal of subsidy on oil.
Yuguda noted that some individuals were siphoning the financial resources of the country at the detriment of the masses.
He added that the perpetrators of the subsidy scam made so much money from Nigeria’s treasury, and had brought the nation to its knees financially.
The former governor narrated an incident when one of his friends highlighted the kind of money made from the fuel subsidy scam.
He said that, “I remember a friend of mine in the oil industry, who called a former president during an economic think-tank meeting, and said that, ‘Mr. President, please stop this fuel subsidy, we are tired of making money from it.'”
Yuguda, however did not name the friend or president involved.
The former governor also alleged that former president Muhammadu Buhari must have known about the fuel subsidy scam since he was the president and minister of petroleum.
Yuguda, while making this disclosure, noted that, “I am sad to let Nigerians know that I came across situations where subsidy was claimed on pipelines that never existed.
“We’re bringing in this fuel at an elevated cost and half of it is exported out of Nigeria by the same people collecting money for it. This is a pure scam.
“NNPC, oil marketers and other stakeholders in the oil sector are all involved in these things.
“They just fill papers, invoices and they claim subsidy on it. That’s the truth.
“Then the bulk of petroleum products are smuggled out of this country.
“This always makes me ask the question, ‘who is subsidizing who?’
“It can be very frustrating in Nigeria to implement policies especially where there are intense interest and existence of cabals.
“There are so many interest that are involved there and that’s what is leading Nigeria to where we are today.
“The nation was hardly pumping one million barrels per day during former president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, yet the prices kept crashing.
“How do you manage a government that is dependent on oil?,” he added.
Yuguda noted that whoever is in support of subsidy is connected to the scammers that are killing Nigeria.
He, however, blamed the lack of will on the part of the government to address the subsidy issue.
The former governor noted that, “This has been a very serious issue that has been talked about by previous administrations.
“Maybe it’s motion without movement and government didn’t have the political will to address the problem.
“I was privileged to serve as the chairman of the sub-committee in 2008 and 2009 under the economic meltdown.
“I led the committee on subsidy, and everything about the subsidy policy and then the scam involved was discovered in my committee.
“Since then recommendations were made, however, they were never implemented,” he added.
Yuguda added that there is no reason why the refineries in the country are not functional despite the billions of naira spent on them every year.
The former governor also called on the federal government to prosecute those involved in the fuel subsidy scam.
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