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Fuel Subsidy Scam: Ministry of Finance sacks Audit Firms – Akintola Williams & Co and Adekanola & Co

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Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance

Last Wednesday, the House of Representatives AdHoc Committee on Monitoring of the Subsidy Regime submitted a report claiming that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and 72 other firms were involved in a N1.07tn scam. The money was said to have been fraudulently paid to oil marketers.

Following this discovery, the looted funds were promptly asked to be returned within three months.

However, in another development over the weekend, the Federal Government has sacked the accounting and auditing firms of Akintola Williams & Co and Adekanola & Co. The two firms were responsible for certifying the documents and claims of marketers before payment.

The statement from the Ministry of Finance reads:

“Concerned about the management of the subsidy regime, the Federal Ministry of Finance has for the last two months been reviewing aspects of the implementation of the subsidy regime related to its functions. The review has produced a lot of useful details on what was wrong with the system and what needs to be done to ensure improvement going forward.

The review process kicked off in February when the ministry and relevant government agencies held a meeting with bankers and marketers at the instance of President Goodluck Jonathan. This was followed by a subsequent session with the accounting and auditing firms to re-evaluate their work.

Based on the review, the Ministry has taken the following steps:

• The services of the audit and accounting firms responsible for certifying the documents and claims of marketers before payment have been terminated. The companies are Akintola Williams and Co and Adekanola and Co.

• The Ministry has established a committee made up of credible and experienced persons from the private and public sector with strong technical component under the chairmanship of Mr. Aigboje Imoukuede to examine the claims of payment arrears for 2011 currently being made by marketers. This is to ensure that only genuine claims are honoured.

• The ministry is also finalising a new and more effective system to replace the current arrangement and, in this regard, a second committee has been set up to propose a good way to forward.

Based on other outcomes of the review, the ministry will take further actions as necessary.

Sacking the auditing firms to me seems like ‘medicine after death’. I am not saying it is not a good move by the Ministry of Finance, but if getting the money returned is the ultimate aim, then I really don’t see how this action would lead to that. Or maybe I’m wrong.

So, please share with me. Is sacking the audit firms a step in the right direction? Do you think these funds can actually be recovered by the Federal Government? What is the best step to be taken in order to recover these funds?

Here is the list of companies said to have been fraudulently paid from the Fuel Subsidy funds and the amount the Federal Government is asking them to refund:

1. ACORN PLC ….. N8,514,900,513.00
2. ALIMINNUR RESOURCES LTD ….N2,543,800,931.00
3. AMG PETRO-ENERGY LTD …. .N7,226,773,136.00
4. ANOSKYE GROUP OF COMPANIES LTD …..N1,318,443,535.00
5. ASCON OIL AND GAS COMPANY …..N4,451,932,090.00
6. AVANT GARDE ENERGY ….. N1,154,824,298.00
7. A-Z PETROLEUM ….. N8,065,557,645.00 owned By Chika Okafor
8. CAH RESOURCES ASSOCIATION LTD …..N24,206,727.00
9. CONOIL PLC …..N3,027,526,589.00 owned Mike Adenuga
10. CRUST ENERGY LTD …..N1,192,651,581.00
11. DOWNSTREAM ENERGY SOURCE LTD …..N2,947,780,261.00
12. DOZZY OIL AND GAS LTD …..N1,587,298,801.00
13. DUPORT MARINE LTD …..N3,555,127,358.00
14. ECO-REGEN LTD …..N3,339,101,218.00
15. EURAFIC OIL AND COASTAL SERVICES LTD ..N3,868,147,024.00
16. FIRST DEEP WATER DISCOVERY LTD …..N932,207,739,.00
17. FRADRO INTERNATIONAL LTD …..N3,661,643.268.00
18. FRESH SYNERGY LTD …..N1,417,029,059.00
19. HEYDEN PETROLEUM …..N3,345,456,733.00
20. IBAFON OIL LTD …..N1,474,479,459.00
21. IMAD OIL &GAS LTD …..N2,701,002,852.00
22. INTEGRATED OIL & GAS …..N13,252,055,429.00
23. INTEGRATED RESOURCES LTD …..N1,166,486,995.00
24. IPMAN INVESTMENT LTD …..N7,538,586,178.00
25. KNIGHTS BRIDGE …..N1,685,869,439.00
26. UNETRALE OIL SUPPLY & TRADING CO. …..N1,213,903,930.00
27. UNGO OIL AND GAS COMPANY LTD …..N1,201,297,922.00
28. LLOYDS ENERGY LTD …..N4,370,512,172.00
29. LOTTOU OIL &GAS LTD …..N1,427,429,910.00
30. MAIZUBE PETROLEUM LTD …..N5,509,407,903.00
31. MATRIX ENERGY OIL & GAS LTD …..N11,211,040,786.00
32. MENOL OIL & GAS LTD …..N4,333,348,489.00
33. MOB INTEGRATED SERVICES …..N5,066,786,851.00
34. MOBIL OIL NIGERIA PLC …..N2,660,968,597.00
35. MUT-HASS …..N1,102,084,041.00
36. NADABO ENERGY LTD …..N2,660,902,801.00
37. NASAMAN OIL SERVICES LTD. …..N3,441,253,193.00
38. NATICEL PETROLEUM LTD …..N5,276,169,320.00
39. NEPAL OIL &GAS SERVO LTD …..N2,353,911,978.00
40. NIPCO PLC …..N7,838,353,057.00
41. OAKFEILD SYNERGY NETWORK LTD …..N988,920,219.00
42. OCEAN ENERGY …..N1,778,180,051.00
43. OILBATH NIGERIA LTD …..N1,019,644,138.00
44. ONTARIO NIGERIA LTD …..N4,248,727,148.00
45. ORIGIN OIL &GAS LTD …..N4,141,367,099.00
46. PETROTRADE ENERGY LTD …..N908,805,371.00
47. PHOENIX OIL COMPANY LTD …..N1,827,838,204.00
48. PRUDENT ENERGY & SERVICES LTD …..N1,360,898,638.00
49. RAINOIL LTD …..N1,266,773,492.00
50. ROCKY ENERGY LTD …..N1,620,110,167.00
51. RYDEN OIL LTD …..N451,150,983.00
52. SEA PETROLEUM & GAS CO. …..LTD N1,019,571,609.00
53. SEDEC ENERGY LTD …..N845,226,771.00
54. SETANA ENERGY LTD …..N2,791,264,070.00
55. SHEILD PETROLEUM CO. NIG. LTD …..N1,502,198,610.00
56. SIFAX OIL &GAS COMPANY LTD …..N3,589,063,041.00
57. SOMERSET ENERGY SERVICES LTD …..N2,172,206,037.00
58. STONEBRIGDE OIL LTD …..N1,784,158,258.00
59. SULPHUR STREAMS LTD …..N4,758,693,054.00
60. SWIFT OIL LTD …..N5,062,403,555.00
61. TAURUS OIL & GAS LTD …..N6,472,821,001.00
62. TECHNO OIL LTD …..N547,179,342.00
63. TONIQUE OIL SERVICES LTD …..N3,827,112,622.00
64. TOP OIL & GAS DEV CO. LTD …..N7,367,662,306.00
65. TOTAL NIGERIA PLC …..N1,931,075,306.00
66. VALCORE ENERGY LTD …..N8,709,548,082.00
67. VIVENDI ENERGY LTD …..N1,127,773,642.00
68. YANATY PETROCHEMICALS NIGERIA LTD ..N4,682,342,275.00

Meanwhile, the ‘Save Nigeria Group’ led by Pastor Tunde Bakare has served a notice to the Federal Government that it would begin mass protests in Lagos and other towns in the country following the report on how N1.7tn was looted by fuel marketers and government agencies.

Nigerians are really angry about this development and it is high time the leaders we elected into power prove that they are capable of running the affairs of the nation in a transparent and honest way.

News Source: Vanguard News

Adeola Adeyemo is a graduate of Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from University of Lagos. However, her passion is writing and she worked as a reporter with NEXT Newspaper. She believes that anything can be written about; anything can be a story depending on the angle it is seen from and the writer's imagination. When she is not writing news or feature articles, she slips into her fantasies and creates interesting fiction pieces. She blogs at www.deolascope.blogspot.com

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