• Says former governor seeking government’s favour for waiting 15 years before making claim

A foremost civil society organisation, Peoples Alliance for Transparency and Accountability (PATA) has berated a former governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, over his claims on the now halted fuel subsidy scheme by the federal government.

Yuguda, who is also  Nigeria’s former minister of state for Transport, in a recent interview with a national television station had alleged that up till the time of its removal, the fuel subsidy was a scam run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in conjunction with marketers and other stakeholders in the oil sector.

Speaking on Monday, Yuguda disclosed that there are individuals who are benefitting from the subsidy scams including the NNPCL.

“They are all involved in this things, all of them and I must sadly also report that Nigeria subsidy, that part of it that goes for subsidy, will go on subsidising sub-sharan Africa and Central Africa because the bulk of this product are smuggled out of this country, then who is subsidising who?” he queried.

“It can be very frustrating in Nigeria to implement policies especially where there are intense interest and a cabal that exist, just similar to what you have in the bunkering issue, it can be stopped but you can’t stop it, the political will to stop it is not there.

“There are so many interest that are involved there and that’s what is leading Nigeria to where we are today. There was a time during Jonathan’s administration hardly were we pumping one million barrels per day and the prices kept crashing and how do you manage a government that is dependent on oil? ”

But PATA, in a statement co-signed by its national coordinator, Aliyu Pai and national secretary, Udeme Akpan, said the 67-year-old Yuguda should be ignored as his comments are opportunist and amount to “attention-seeking hypocrisy.”

The group noted that “it was a shame that Mr. Yuguda who claimed to have served as chairman of a sub-committee between 2008 and 2009 under the economic meltdown period and chaired the committee on subsidy failed to alert the nation on the brazen allegation then, but waited till 15 years after.”

READ MORE: NNPCL involved in oil subsidy scam, former Bauchi governor alleges

According to the group “ordinarily, the interview would have been ignored, but due to the sensitivity of the issue and in particular owing to the long overdue recent removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu.

PATA also said Yuguda “now wants to be seen as a hero when he is nothing near it,” adding “it is curious to us that he waited for over 15 years before having a brain reset to make his outlandish claim.”

PATA further said that the NNPC of 2008 is not that of 2023 as the company has witnessed massive transformation all around.

“The oil giant has moved to a profit-making corporation owing to its culture of accountability, transparency and innovation.

“Today, the NNPC has become a world-class institution capable of competing with the best and brightest in the global energy industry.

“It will be pertinent for us to advise President Tinubu to be wary of characters like Yuguda whose political party is majorly responsible for the malfeasance he is tackling today,” the statement added.