The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PPPRA

  • PENGASSAN hails PPPRA’s ongoing reforms

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has commended the management of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) for the ongoing reforms in the downstream sector.

    The Chairman of the PPPRA Branch of the association, Mr. Lazi Akhore, and the Secretary, Mr Ghide Mohammed, said on Monday that PPPRA’s management deserved a pat on the back for sanitising the sector.

    The officers who spoke in a statement issued in Abuja, expressed their support for the Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Mr. Reginald Stanley, for taking bold steps in saving over N409 billion in the subsidy scheme last year.

    The union said the Federal Government should be commended for taking measures resulting in an unprecedented clean-up of the downstream, following the appointment of Stanley in November, 2011.

    “It is worth noting that the PPPRA under Mr. Reginald Stanley has recorded significant achievements in the operations of the subsidy scheme, resulting to the saving of over N409 billion in 2012 alone.

    “Stanley has also facilitated the drastic reduction of daily fuel consumption in line with actual national demands,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the body as saying in the statement.

     

     

  • PENGASSAN condemns ‘fraud’ allegation against PPPRA

    PENGASSAN condemns ‘fraud’ allegation against PPPRA

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency ( PPPRA) branch has condemned what it called allegation of fraud against the agency by one Ledisi Dagogo-Jack.

    In a statement by its Chairman, Comrade Stephen Lazi Akhere and Secretary, Comrade Ghide Muhammad, the group said that the management of PPPRA is focused and sticks to standard, therefore, no mischief will distract it.

    The statement said: “It was obvious Ledisi Dagogo-Jack and his traducers are out to smear the hard earned image of the agency and its leadership. The union, therefore, wishes to encourage the Executive Secretary, Mr. Reginald Stanley to remain focused with his transformation process, which has helped sanitise the petroleum downstream sector since the events of 2011 in the administration of the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF).

    “It is worth noting that the PPPRA under Stanley has recorded significant achievements in the operation of the subsidy scheme which resulted in saving the nation over N409 billion last year alone, drastic reduction on daily fuel consumption in line with actual national demands, the introduction of certified product inspectors, under the 3-3-2 system and eventually 2-2-1 system which among other things, thinned the possibility of collusion in product discharge and distribution.

    “Given our most recent experience, particularly the excitement that greeted the various probe and investigative panels in the wake of the 2011 fuel subsidy brouhaha, the Union is of the opinion, that the introduction of the Independent Inspection System was conceived in the best interest of the petroleum downstream sector.”

  • PEDAN accuses marketers of victimising members

    Petroleum Dealers’ Association of Nigeria (PEDAN) has accused oil marketers of victimising and coercing its members to make outrageous deposit for products, saying the act has led to the closure of many filling stations.

    The Secretary-General, Comrade Innocent Eze, in a letter to the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), a copy of which was sent to the Minister of Labour, said it has signed the implementation of the agreement but complain about the non copliance withbpayment of allotted rebate by the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to the dealers.

    He lamented that members have always been at the receiving end of the oil marketers who often undermine the interest of the dealers.

    He complained that the oil marketing companies have terminated the contracts of many of PEDAN members because of their inability to deposit amount of money demanded by the marketing companies.

    PEDAN also said they were being intimidated by demand for deposits which range from N10million to N30 million, depending on the capacity of the station, adding that the marketers equally  deny the members of the association the full payment of their approved rebate, and often retire prematurely any one that dares to challenge them.

    PEDAN charged that the allotment of adequate rebates to its members by  PPPRA would go a long way towards enabling its members to meet with the requirements of the collective bargaining to which both parties have reached agreement.

    Eze said PEDAN members are at a disadvantage meeting the responsibility of paying their staff, noting that even without the agreement, some of its members are paying above the stated figures.

    The association said the act has been detrimental to the operations of its members, and has forced PEDAN to soft pedal on the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) it earlier agreed with Petrol Station Workers (PSW), who are their employees and a branch of NUPENG.

    The association, however, promised to comply with the Collective Bargaining Agreement with the PSW branch of NUPENG, if its constraint are holistically addressed by the concerned parties.

    PEDAN, therefore, appealed to NUPENG to convene  a meeting of stakeholders to dialogue on the way forward to avert crisis in the sector, noting that most often, it is the dealers that suffer when there is industrial dispute.

  • Disputed N4.423b between PPPRA, NEITI traced to CBN

    Disputed N4.423b between PPPRA, NEITI traced to CBN

    The N4.423 billion in dispute between the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has been reconciled and traced to the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The resolution of the disputed amount followed a reconcilaitory meeting by the two organisations.

    A communique, which was signed by the Executive Secretaries, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed and Mr Reginald Stanley of the NEITI and PPPRA, said: “There is nothing outstanding against the PPPRA.”

    The communique said the meeting evolved strategies for NEITI and PPPRA to address other issues arising from the NEITI Report, adding that it used the platform of the Inter-Ministerial Task Team (IMTT) set up by President Godluck Jonathan to address remedial issues arising from NEITI’s Report.

    The executive secretaries also resolved to ensure the effective communication network between the two agencies for Inter-agency cooperation.

     

    The statement reads in parts: “Following the sustained media engagement between Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), over the recently released 2009-2011 Industry Audit in the Oil and Gas Sector, and the findings as they affect PPPRA, a joint meeting between the two Agencies was held today (yesterday), August 13, 2013, in Abuja, with the Managements of the two Agencies in attendance.”

  • NEITI: PPPRA yet to account for N4.423b

    NEITI: PPPRA yet to account for N4.423b

    The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) yesterday insisted that the management of the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) was yet to account for the N4.423 billion it received from oil marketers.

    NEITI, in a statement by its Director of Communications, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, challenged the PPPRA to present evidence of remittance of the fund to discredit the audit report.

    Orji said:”However, the NEITI reports further disclosed that the PPPRA could not account for the N4.423 billion, which was paid by the marketers to the agency. The position of NEITI remains that this sum should have been and should be remitted to the Federation Account by PPPRA.

    “As at the time of this audit, there was no evidence (bank statements, etc) that this remittance was made to the Federation Account. NEITI wants to see proof that these remittances ever happened. This is the crux of the matter.”

    He added that there was also an important issue over subsidy funds disbursement.

    The statement said prior to 2009, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation disbursed funds to the Petroleum Subsidy Fund Account.

    It explained that the account was managed and controlled by PPPRA.

    Orji said: “From our audit findings, these transactions which involved huge financial flows weighed very low on the scale of transparency and accountability.”

    The statement said the agency provided contradictory information during the audit process.

    Citing an instance, NEITI said the agency stated in its audited financial statement that it paid N297.11 billion as subsidy in 2009.

    NEITI said:“PPPRA was unable to make available its audited accounts for the period 2010 and 2011 for review during the audit process. Of note is also the issue of records relating to transactions during the audited period which remained uncompleted. These are some of the unanswered questions from NEITI Audit Report still hanging on the neck of PPPRA.”

  • PPPRA to NEITI: Desist from confusing the public

    PPPRA to NEITI: Desist from confusing the public

    The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has asked the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to desist from confusing the public on its audit report.

    The report had directed the PPPRA to remit N4.423 billion, arising from over-recovery, to the Federation Account.

    Over-recovery applies when the landing cost of products based on import parity principle is below the approved PPPRA ex-depot benchmark. Marketers pay over-recovery into Petroleum Subsidy Fund (PSF) account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    Defending its audit report, the Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Reginald Stanley, said: “NEITI appeared to have embarked on a wild-goose chase, instead of addressing the issues at stake.”

    He further said contrary to NEITI’s report, there was no time the report was ‘signed-off’ by the PPPRA management, and challenged NEITI to make public, a copy of the ‘sign-off’ to prove its claim.

    He continued: “We challenge NEITI to tell Nigerians where the N4.423 billion it claims was warehoused. If NEITI is, indeed, desirous of efficiently in doing its job, we challenge it to go and consult the records at the CBN, where the PSF account is domiciled.”

  • PPPRA to NEITI: Stop confusing the public

    PPPRA to NEITI: Stop confusing the public

    The Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency has appealed to the Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative to desist from confusing the public further on its audit report which said that the agency should remit N4.423 billion to the Federation Account.

    In a swift reaction to NEITI’s statement affirming that it stood by its controversial audit report, the Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Mr. Reginald Stanley, told reporters in Abuja on Wednesday that “NEITI appeared to have embarked on a wild-goose chase, instead of addressing the issues at stake.’’

    He said there was never a time the audit report was `signed-off’ by the management of the PPPRA, challenging NEITI to make a copy of the sign-off public, to prove its claim against PPPRA.

    On July 29, NEITI released its 2009-2011 audit report on the oil and gas sector, recommending that the PPPRA should remit N4.423 billion, arising from “over-recovery’’ to the Federation Account.

    “We challenge NEITI to tell Nigerians where the N4.423 billion it claims was warehoused. If NEITI is indeed, desirous of efficiently doing its job, we challenge it to go and consult the records at the Central Bank of Nigeria, where the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) account is domiciled.

    “It should also go a step further by visiting the records at the Federal Ministry of Finance to confirm if certain amount of money as claimed was remitted accordingly or not by the PPPRA.

    “To all intents and purposes, it is apparent that NEITI is on a wild-goose chase and self-seeking in its putrid claims,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the PPPRA boss as saying to journalists.

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  • NEITI’s audit report, inaccurate, misleading – PPPRA

    NEITI’s audit report, inaccurate, misleading – PPPRA

    The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has dismissed the audit report of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) which said the agency should remit N4.423 billion to the Federal Government.

    The Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Mr. Reginald Stanley, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday that NEITI’s report “is steeped in inaccuracies and gross misrepresentation of facts.

    “The report has glaring potential to mislead the public and further cast aspersions on the activities of the PPPRA as a key administrator of the Petroleum Support Fund (PSF),” Stanley stated

    On July 29, NEITI released its 2009-2011 audit report on the oil and gas sector, recommending that the PPPRA should remit N4.423 billion, arising from “over-recovery’’ collected to the Federation Account for the period in review.

    The report also ordered other establishments to refund various sums of money to the Federal Government.

    “The PPPRA wishes to state unequivocally that the statement credited to the NEITI chairman is misleading and a gross misrepresentation of facts.

    “We note with dismay, NEITI’s admission to the fact that it had no absolute control of its sources of data as they were derived information and data provided through its own independent auditors as well as companies doing business in the sector.

    “Such over-reliance on secondary data must have accounted for the glaringly flawed computations presented in the report,” the PPPRA chief told NAN.

    Stanley explained that the N4.423 billion “over-recovery” that the PPPRA was asked to remit, was not correct, noting that only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation still had an outstanding payment of about N3.98 billion to be paid into Central Bank of Nigeria’s account.

     

  • ‘Why PPRA couldn’t probe oil documents’

    ‘Why PPRA couldn’t probe oil documents’

    A Lagos High Court, Ikeja was yesterday told that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) failed to investigate some documents submitted by three oil firms for payment of subsidy on oil imported into the county.

    A prosecution witness, Mr Victor Chidok, who is the head of Lagos Zonal Office of the PPPRA, disclosed this while giving evidence before the court presided by Justice Lateefa Okunnu.

    Chidok said that the PPRA could not carry out the investigation because it does not have representative offshore.

    The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) had charged the three oil marketers, Adamu Maula, George Ogbonna, and Emmanuel Morah before Justice Lateefat Okunnu of a Lagos High Court, Ikeja.

    They were arraigned alongside their companies. Downstream Energy Sources Ltd. and Rocky Energy Ltd. are standing trial for an alleged N789.6 million fuel subsidy fraud.

    At the resumed hearing of the matter, Chidok, who was led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacobs told the court that Downstream Energy Limited was given permission to import 10,862 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) into Nigeria.

    He said that the defendants submitted some documents relating to a ship-to-ship transfer between a mother vessel, MT La Katrina and the daughter vessel, MT D. Roseline (Daughter Vessel on offshore in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

  • Ensure distribution of products, IPMAN urges PPPRA

    Ensure distribution of products, IPMAN urges PPPRA

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), yesterday urged the managements of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to sustain the steady supply of products to Nigerians.

    The association assured that its members would ensure there is no hitch in the products distribution and retailing chain to consumers both in the hinter land in order to discourage artificial scarcity.

    The National Secretary of the association, Mike Osatuyi, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, said, IPMAN is working with all its members to sustain the distribution and retailing chain.

    He noted that the intervention scheme of the PPMC products distribution through Coastal Private Depots Operation, has created room for adequate supply of petroleum products.

    He said, the National Executive Committee of IPMAN has commended the management of PPMC and PPPRA for ensuring steady products supply to the system, adding that the body will ensure that there is no hitch in the distribution and retailing chain.