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The Nigerian Government this evening released the updated list of oil marketers recommended for criminal investigation in connection with the oil subsidy scam that sparked fuel riots across the country last January. The updated number is 25, four more than the list of 21 released earlier.
“The number has been confirmed by the Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments,” said Paul C Nwabuikwu, Senior Assistant to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, who released the list on behalf of his boss, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The statement also included a summary of the infractions which the committee confirmed were committed by the 25 firms.
“As the information shows, some of the companies claimed payments for consignments brought in by ships which investigations revealed were either non-existent or were somewhere else in the world!” Nwabuikwu stated.
The statement indicated that in some cases, subsidy payments were made “for which mother vessels could not be traced” while in others, there were “subsidy payments without the signature of external auditors and independent inspectors on shore tank certificates.”
In yet some other cases, there were “subsidy payments for which there were no shipping documents or evidence of payment for products in foreign exchange”,” “no evidence of sales proceeds in the bank” or there were “subsidy payments without proof of existence of mother vessel Bill of Lading or Daughter Bill of Lading.”
Nwabuikwu told Transport & Business Express that there is no going back in government’s determination to identify and bring indicted fuel marketers to book despite the threat of nationwide strike by oil marketers, who stopped supplying Abuja last week Monday, leading to a crippling fuel scarcity.
Said Nwabuikwu: “There are three categories of marketers: Those who have been paid because they have been verified; those who have relatively minor issues and who are in discussion to resolve them; and finally, the recalcitrant ones who have invented a fuel scarcity to blackmail government. Government is working towards ending the scarcity but not at the expense of higher national objectives. Please remind Nigerians that what we are doing is in response to the legitimate anger they expressed over the subsidy issue.”
Below is the updated list of indicted marketers:
10. Eurafric Oil & Gas Ltd = 2,261,859,123.70
11. Heyden Petroleum = 594,714,089.31
12. Lumen Skies Ltd = 774,787,752.86
13. Majope Investment Ltd = 959,813,734.22
14. Master Energy Oil & Gas Ltd = 2,908,996,291.29
15. Matrix Energy Ltd = 6,233,802,137.15
16. Menol Oil & Gas Ltd = 1,691,595,830.87
17. MOB International Services = 2,123,328,914.10
18. MRS Oil & Gas Plc = 6,086,531,305.33
19. Nasaman Oil Services Ltd = 3,861,407,437.90
20. Naticel Petroleum Ltd = 3,081,370,678.34
21. Ocean Energy Trading & Services Ltd = 1,778,180,051.20
22. Pinnacle Contractors Ltd = 2,755,646,744.04
23. Sifax Oil & Gas Company = 1,033,119,489,60
24. Tonique Oil Services Ltd = 1,575,014,046.57
25. Top Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd = 2,360,733,485.43
*Photo: Finance Minister Okonjo-Iweala
