From The Punch
Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Information and Media, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said in Abuja on Tuesday
government’s directive to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe
subsidy payments was a welcome development.
He said, “We think that those
economic saboteurs should be brought to book. The Senate is fully behind this
because the Senate started this investigation and the senate is also very
willing to go all out to make sure that Nigeria is a country where everybody’s
interest is fully protected.
“Many things were revealed in our
investigation; and it led to the naming of all those who unduly profited from
the subsidy and we call on the investigative agencies that have already moved
into action to ensure that no one is spared because those are the people that
have brought us to this avoidable hardship.”
Abaribe noted that the government
should ensure that the outcome of the meeting between Labour and the Belgore
committee was implemented.
He said, “What we seek today is to
ensure that whatever decisions are going to come out of the meeting between the
Belgore committee and labour should be faithfully implemented.
“And the only way you can bring the
two sides together is not to take side prior to the negotiations; that is why
it seems as if the senate didn’t come out frontally to make a pronouncement but
l think events as at today has shown that the senate took the best possible
position and helped to douse an imminent crisis that would’ve engulfed our
nation.”
The Senate also stood down the
report of its joint committee on Finance, Appropriation and National Planning
on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, because it did not capture the
present situation on subsidy.
President Goodluck Jonathan had
submitted the framework with the proposal to phase out the subsidy regime
beginning from 2012.
It was the reasoning within the
Senate that since the government had settled for a phased deregulation, the
report should be sent back for further work.
The committee, led by Senator Ahmmad
Maccido, had submitted that the proposal on fuel subsidy as contained in the
framework was premature as consultations were still ongoing.
It recommended that sources other
than relying on savings from proposed subsidy removal, as part of financing
item for expected deficit should be explored.
“In the event of any subsidy
withdrawal all savings must be captured in safety net for targeted
expenditures,” the committee recommended.
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