Senate directs PPPRA to list beneficiaries of N120bn fuel subsidy fund in 2016

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts has directed Petroleum Products Pricing Regulators Agency (PPPRA) to provide the list of beneficiaries who collected N120 billion as payment for fuel subsidy captured in the auditor general report for 2016.

The Committee at a meeting on Wednesday, led by Senator Matthew Urhoghide, had queried IPMAN on the N120 billion differential in subsidy payment in FAAC and PPPRA recorded in the Auditor-General for the Federation report in 2016.

“The amounts reflected in FAAC records at the OAGF (Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation) is N443,940,559,974.80 as subsidy payments during the year 2016 which is at variance with the total amount paid of N563,283,294,925.47 in the records of PPPRA as subsidy payments during the year 2016,” the committee noted referring to the report.

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OAGF report also made it clear that from PPPRA records, money was paid as outstanding subsidy commitments to oil marketers for 117 transactions in 2014 while the sum of N441.9 billion was paid to oil marketers as subsidy commitments for 324 transactions in 2015.

“From records presented for audit, there was no year 2016 Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) payment made as a result of the removal of subsidy on petroleum products following the increase in pump price from N89 to N143 only outstanding payments for previous years of 2014 and 2015 and interest payments were made in 2016,” the document also revealed.

Reacting, the National President of IPMAN, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, told the legislators that his union has over 50,000 members across the federation, adding that they did not know the real beneficiaries of the N120 billion in question.

The committee, therefore, summoned the PPPRA to provide the list of beneficiaries to allow the IPMAN respond effectively to the issue raised in the query.

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