Fakoyejo Olalekan
A former governor of Bauchi State, and former minister of Aviation, Isa Yuguda, has revealed that one of his friends benefited significantly from the fuel subsidy scam.
Yuguda said the friend, operating in the oil sector, disclosed to him and a former President that he was tired of making money from the fuel subsidy payment.
Join our WhatsApp Channel“I remember a friend of mine in the oil industry, who during a meeting of an economic think tank. He called the then president aside and said, ‘Mr President please stop this subsidy, we are tired of making money’”.
He didn’t state the year or the president involved in the discussion with his friend, he, however, said they had the discussion during an economic think tank.
Although, according to Yuguda, Muhammadu Buhari, as the president and minister of petroleum for eight years, must have known about the subsidy scam, he said during an interview with Channels TV on Monday, 26 June.
Yuguda’s revelation followed the removal of subsidy on fuel in Nigeria by President Bola Tinubu, who stated that fuel subsidy is a scam and only the rich are benefiting from it in Nigeria.
Addressing the issue of fuel subsidy in Nigeria, Yuguda said if the government has the political will to investigate, perpetrators of fuel subsidy scam can be held accountable as there are records.
“The records are all there, and there is no time limit to investigate this people. If government has the political will these individuals can be held to account”, he said.
Yuguda noted that a committee he once headed drew the attention of the government to the subsidy scam following an investigation that uncovered their activities.
He narrated further that: “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.
“Subsidy was claimed on pipelines that never existed. Invoice is created and NNPC just pays.”
