Photo: Alec Johnson/allAfrica.com

The Senate panel investigating the fuel subsidy regime yesterday summoned KPMG, threatening to employ sterner measures should they refuse to appear before them today.

The Committees on Petroleum (Downstream), Appropriation and Finance also mandated the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to device a mechanism to stop the artificial Kerosene scarcity in the country.

The subpoena for KPMG, signed by the Committee chairman Sen. Magnus Abe, read in part "consequent upon our letter dated 23 May 2012 requesting your appearance and your refusal to oblige, the Joint Committee hereby issues this subpoena.

"You are hereby commanded to appear before this joint committee on Thursday 31 May 2012 at 10.00 am. Failure to comply with this subpoena will lead to further measures available to committee to cause your appearance."

Sen. Abe also expressed displeasure that the NNPC and PPMC were not doing enough to tackle the continuous scarcity of kerosene, adding that it hardly gets to the end users for whom it was subsidised.

They faulted the regulators for not engaging construction companies, aviation companies who the agencies claim utilise the bulk of kerosene for their work.

They expressed dissatisfaction with allocation of the subsidised product to construction companies, manufacturers and other big time industries at the expense of the poor for whom the subsidy was placed by the federal government.

The panel further queried the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) over being selective in dealing with petroleum products suppliers, adding that it could amount to victimisation of certain companies.