Fuel Subsidy: Cartel Members Revealed

…N3.655 trillion Shared By Companies Between 2006 and September 2011.

ABUJA, December 2, (THEWILL) - The names of companies that shared N1.4 trillion petroleum subsidy funds was made public Friday with Wale Tinubu’s Oando and Sayyu Dantata’s MRS Oil topping the list of beneficiaries.

The Senate joint committee probing the management of petroleum subsidy funds disclosed at an investigative hearing that over 100 companies including construction companies participated in the sharing of N1.426 trillion between January and August 2011, a figure that contradicts that of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency, which it put at N1.348 trillion.

Making the names of the companies public, Chairman of the committee, Senator Magnus Abe complained that some of the companies contained in the list, were construction companies that have nothing to do with oil. He further observed that the companies were too many and put the credibility of their participatory process in question.

Abe's complain came against the backdrop of the observation that since the public hearing started the PPPRA quickly shut down its website where the comprehensive list of the cartel was contained in a manner that was suspicious.

Among the names reeled out by Senator Abe are; Oando Nigerian Plc. – N228.506 b, MRS – N224.818 billion, Enak Oil & Gas – N19.684 billion, CONOIl – N37.960 billion, Bovas & Co. Nig. Ltd. – N5.685 billion, Obat N85 billion and AP; N104.5billion.

Also on the list are Folawiyo Oil - N113.3billion; IPMAN Investment Limited- N10.9billion; ACON - N24.1billion, Atio Oil-N64.4billion, AMP- N11.4billion; Honeywell-N12.2billion; Emac Oil- N19.2billion; D.Jones Oil-N14.8billion; Capital Oil - N22.4billion; AZ Oil- N18.613billion; Eterna oil- N5.57 billion; Dozil oil- N3.375 billion; and Fort oil-N8.582 billion.

Also, Integrated Oil and Gas owned by former Minister of Interior, Capt. Emmanuel Iheanacho was mentioned and is said to have benefitted to the tune of N30.777 billion, while IPMAN Investment Limited pocketed the sum of N10.9 billion.

Abe did not name the registered construction companies that benefited from the racket.

However, the alleged N450 billion kerosene subsidies owed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the federal government was debunked by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) which told the lawmakers that the claims were not in their books.

Meanwhile, the executive secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr. Reginald Elijah disclosed that between 2006 and September 2011, a whopping N3.655 trillion was expended on fuel subsidies.

He however differed from the figures – N1.426 trillion submitted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as subsidies on the products as at August 2011, arguing that the actual figure was N1.348 trillion.

The panel also discovered a good number of the marketers did not meet the conditions for pre-qualifications to benefit from the subsidies adding that they are most times in the habit of making false claims; “leading to drain in the nation’s oil and gas industry”.

According to the panel chairman, prospective marketers were required to own tank farms (petrol deports) of not less than 5000 metric tonnes, and should be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as oil companies.

“Yet it was discovered that while only 11 marketers own storage facilities, the rest were “throughput” (sharing depots with filling stations) and some were registered construction companies,” he said.

Nonetheless, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Austin Oniwon told the panel that whereas a locally refined barrel of petrol costs $5, with a subsidy of N11.85 per barrel, the independent marketers were being subsidized with N77 per litre of N138.71, amounting to N12, 243 per barrel.

While adjourning sitting to Monday December 12, Senator Abe directed Oniwon to produce total amounts expended on turn around maintenance from 1999 to date, total dividends accruing to NNPC from the Joint Venture Companies, names of accused marketers, investigations conducted, results and subsequent punishments to defaulters at the next sitting.