•We can only hope that report that indicted firms are still inporting fuel is not true
The report by an international newswire, Reuters, that a number of companies indicted in the fuel subsidy scam over the past three years have been re-listed for fuel importation by the government is shocking. The Minister for Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke has however denied that. But if the allegation is correct, we condemn such travesty against the Nigerian people.
The Federal Government claimed to have paid over one trillion naira in fuel subsidy, amounting to about 20 percent of the national budget, last year. More than half of this sum was allegedly paid to suppliers who either diverted the products they imported or merely got paid subsidies for fuel imports that never took place.
The report also stated that there has been an increase in the number of fuel importers, and that about $1.2 billion has already been spent on fuel import subsidy this year. According to the report, about $6 billion was lost to fuel subsidy corruption, in the past three years. It also named Nepal, Fresh Synergy, Ibafon and Techno as among the companies that the National Assembly indicted, but which has found their way back as official importers of fuel.
In her off-handed denial to the press after a meeting between the Presidency and the Nigeria Bar Association, the petroleum minister merely stated that such development was impossible without specifically denying the inclusion of those companies named by the media. She also did not explain why the number of importers has increased, or the criteria used in choosing those on the list.
The Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), under the minister's watch gave out humongous contracts for the importation of petroleum products to companies without any experience in the industry; and in some cases companies that were a few weeks old in the register of companies and with very minimal share capital. So, it will not be out of place to insinuate that another round of swindle is in the offing, unless the PPPRA and the ministry can explain this seeming recourse to the same old path. The least we expect from the authorities is the publication of the names of the approved importers for public scrutiny.
We also hope that the National Assembly and the police will show interest now, to ensure that any of the indicted companies trying to swindle the country a second time is stopped in its track. In sieving out those to be blacklisted, it is important that the names of the shareholders and directors are noted so that the promoters of the blacklisted companies are not allowed to use new companies to continue their criminal enterprise.
The PPPRA and other concerned agencies must also ensure that all the necessary verifications have been completed before subsidies are paid. It will be most unfair to again allow billions of tax-payers' money to be fraudulently paid to racketeers, after which further huge sums are expended to try to recover the stolen money.
Meanwhile, what has become of those that stole the alleged $6 billion dollars in the last three years? Is it that they have all been exonerated or that they have proved too smart for our criminal justice system? Or, is it also possible that the public officials have connived to make it impossible for the stolen public funds to be recovered? We must however warn that Nigerians will not accept the removal of the so-called subsidy as the answer for the glaring failure of governance.
