According to The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPRA), via Reginald Stanley, the Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, he revealed that his Agency has saved the federal government N671 billion in fuel subsidy claims within the past 10 months, following measures adopted to check fraud in the downstream sector.In his words government spent N1.3 trillion on such claims in the first 10 months of last year; adding that there was no more space for fraudsters to operate in the downstream as the agency “would no longer allow marketers to fleece the government, the federal government, through the PPPRA, has been able to prune the size of briefcase marketers from 128 to 38, the PPPRA has successfully weeded 90 companies and set stringent regulatory conditions that made it difficult for marketers to short-change the system. We are more than determined to drag marketers to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), should we notice any infraction.”
Reginald also added that, “Out of the N679 billion subsidy payment made between January and October, the NNPC got N337.7 billion while other marketers received a combined figure of N342 billion, this is as against N1.351 trillion paid within the same period last year that is from January to October.”
Stanley said that the absence of measures aimed at enforcing transparency and accountability in the administration of the subsidy regime spurred him into carrying out some of the reforms, geared at engendering pubic trust and belief in government’s sincerity in downstream activities.
He listed some reforms made by the new management of the PPPRA to include restricted participation in fuel importation to only owners of coastal discharge/depot facilities, aimed at substantially reducing participation in the PSF Scheme.
According to him, the move further motivated investments in the development of petroleum handling facilities and ensured better management of participants in the PSF scheme while promoting local content development.
Stanley said that the PPPRA now conducted monthly import performance review meetings and was resolving marketers’ complaints through effective mediation, to ensure that marketers’ confidence in importing fuel was restored in the light of the subsidy removal debate and budget approval uncertainties.
Reacting to recent recent reports of jumbo salaries and allowances of PPPRA staff, he described them as “spurious, unfounded, misleading and a gross misrepresentation” of what he said while appearing before the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Petroleum (Downstream).
He said that the sum of N5.7 billion, when broken down into sub-heads, accounted for staff salaries and allowances, national contributory pension, pension payments, National Health Insurance Scheme, pay-as-you-earn tax element, overheads and other sundry deductions, consistent with what obtained in other MDAs, especially in the oil and gas sector.
The question now is, where will these recovered funds end up? In the pocket of other corrupt Nigerians or firms?
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