CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele
N6.7bn subsidy payments: Reps not convinced with CBN
National Assembly committee investigating subsidy payments approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria on behalf of the Federal Government say they not convinced with the explanations provided by the bank.
This is also as the CBN refuted claims alleging that it received N6.7 trillion in fuel subsidies not supported by any papers.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this Thursday, during a meeting of the House of Representatives Special Ad Hoc Committee set up to review Nigeria’s petroleum product subsidy regime from 2017 to 2021.
The CBN governor informed the legislators at the start of the inquiry hearing that he could only respond to inquiries about technical aspects of subsidy payments.
“I will be able to provide answers here. But if they are outside the technical aspects of the subsidy transactions; then I will not be able to respond,” he said.
CBN’s Deputy Director of Banking Services, Hussein Kagara, who represented Emefiele, informed the legislators that the regulator was unable to print out the subsidy payment paperwork due to their size.
However, his justification was not well received by the committee.
Lawmaker Mark Gbilah (NNPP-Benue) claimed that N6.7 trillion had been spent on subsidies in less than a year, adding that the CBN governor should personally appear to address the matter with the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
The committee, therefore, subpoenaed to appear on August 18 for further hearing.
