Total Nigeria Fails To Account For N2bn Subsidy Payment
More revelations of discrepancies in the administration of the fuel subsidy came to the fore yesterday as the House of Representatives ad hoc committee probing the subsidy regime uncovered an overpayment of N2.7 billion last year to Total Nigeria, one of the major oil marketers.
The company was also put on the spot over the claim in the now famous KPMG Audit Report on the oil industry that it received another excess payment in 2008.
The revelations came just as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) explained the rationale behind government’s policy on zero tax on petroleum products imported into the country.
Managing Director of Total Nigeria, Mr. Dominique Thiolon, who appeared before the subsidy probe panel yesterday, admitted that his company got excess payment, but disclosed that the excess fund was returned to the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Authority (PPPRA).
Thiolon had earlier denied the possibility of an over-payment in its dealings with the PPPRA, but the song changed when he was confronted with some of the documents submitted by his company and reminded that he was under oath to tell the truth.
He told the panel that Total received subsidy payments to the tune of N16.1 billion in respect of 211 million litres of petrol in 2011 but the panel fished out a document which showed that the actual subsidy received by the multinational oil firm for the period was N18.8 billion, a difference of N2.7 billion. The panel further took Total up on the 2011 subsidy payments, arguing that the payment of N11 billion for 251 million litres of petrol the previous year raised some questions.
The panel was of the view that the payments appeared to be inversely proportional to the quantity of premium motor spirit imported by the oil marketing firm. Members of the panel were at a loss and sought explanation as to why the company received more subsidy in a period it imported less petrol and got less subsidy when it imported more fuel into the country.
In response to this poser, Thiolon explained that the seeming discrepancy was normal as petrol was imported based on the prevailing price at the international market. According to him, the price of refined products changes on a daily basis like the price of crude oil.
He told the panel that Total received subsidy payments to the tune of N16.1 billion in respect of 211 million litres of petrol in 2011 but the panel fished out a document which showed that the actual subsidy received by the multinational oil firm for the period was N18.8 billion, a difference of N2.7 billion. The panel further took Total up on the 2011 subsidy payments, arguing that the payment of N11 billion for 251 million litres of petrol the previous year raised some questions.
The panel was of the view that the payments appeared to be inversely proportional to the quantity of premium motor spirit imported by the oil marketing firm. Members of the panel were at a loss and sought explanation as to why the company received more subsidy in a period it imported less petrol and got less subsidy when it imported more fuel into the country.
In response to this poser, Thiolon explained that the seeming discrepancy was normal as petrol was imported based on the prevailing price at the international market. According to him, the price of refined products changes on a daily basis like the price of crude oil.
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