PPPRA Debunks NEXTs Claim of Petroleum resources N2.2Billion Bribery.

The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, has dismissed as unfortunate reports in a medium (234NEXT) that the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, was using the agency as a conduit to receive bribes worth over N2.2 billion from oil marketers in the country.

Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Engr. Goody Egbuji, who debunked the reports at a briefing with journalists in Abuja, yesterday, noted that the report by the newspaper in question particularly made false allegations undermining the integrity of the recently-concluded second quarter products importation allocation exercise.
Egbuji stressed that the operating price boundaries for products are well established by both international and industry standards as shown in the PPPRA template, thereby leaving no room for any manipulations or extraneous factors.


“In other words, there is no way such tightly determined margins can accommodate additional burden as being alleged by the publication. In this sense, the PPPRA cannot be said to be ‘used’ by the Minister of Petroleum to ‘fleece’ oil marketers,” he said, adding that ministerial approval for Second Quarter (Q2) of 2011 was irretrievably given since March 31, 2011, and letters issued for collection soon after.

He said: “Allegations of speculation in the allocation exercise after the approvals are further proof of the malicious intentions of the publication to unduly malign the person of the Minister of Petroleum Resources.”
According to Egbuji, “These allegations are intended to cast a shadow of doubt on our regulatory procedure and processes.

“Ordinarily, the Agency would have chosen to outrightly ignore the ill-motivated publication, but for the fact that we live in an environment where misinformation could eventually evolve to lend undue credence to untruth, thus ascribing legitimacy to such insinuations in the public domain.

According to Egbuji the allegations of corruption and bribe-taking leveled against the agency were unfounded and malicious, adding that it was “the handiwork of disgruntled elements that are bent on subverting the regulatory reforms being instituted by the new leadership of the Agency.”

He added that, “There is no link between the fabricated story and the statutory mandate of the PPPRA, which is to regulate products supply and distribution of petroleum products.”
The PPPRA boss pointed out that the Agency’s “insistence that participation of the Petroleum Support Fund, PSF, scheme continues to be based on established standards have not gone well with many people who would have wished they had their ways in their applications.”

He noted that from inception, the Agency has “assiduously worked within established frameworks, and has ensured a strict compliance with all established parameters.”

Egbuji stated that, “The PPPRA was established by an Act of the National Assembly in May 2003, and since then it has tried within the limitations of the operating environment to actualize its mandate and functions among which is to support, prevent collusion and restrictive trade practices harmful to the sector.”
According to him, the agency has continued to “discharge its statutory responsibilities conscientiously, and this accounts for the steady and adequate supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country in recent times.”

He further noted that, “For the avoidance of doubt and in defence of the corporate image of the Agency as well as the integrity of the government officials mentioned in the report, the PPPRA affirms that majority of the marketers have collected their Import Permits, without any payments whatsoever.”

The PPPRA boss also observed that the effective administration of the Petroleum Support Fund, PSF, as an interventionist fund has helped to mitigate the volatility of crude oil prices in the international market.
He said, “Essentially, the PSF guidelines, which is consistent with the mandate of the Agency seeks to ensure products availability through the regulation of petroleum products supply and distribution, as well as ensure a virile and viable downstream sector where costs recovery is guaranteed plus a reasonable profit margin.”

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