Oando, Sahara Energy Implicated in $1 Billion Overwhelming Fuel Diversion Fraud
Oil giants Oando and Sahara Energy are believed to appear on a list of companies involved in alleged illegal diversion of $1 billion fuel diversion scandal.
The executive is suspected of forging documents and colluding with third parties to divert products, according to insider sources.
“if products are taken away to unauthorized locations, it is our collective resources involved that would have been wasted and so as a Parliament, what we are doing here is protecting the interest of country, said Hon Ralph Igbokwe, chairman, House adhoc committee on review of petrol pricing on Monday at an hearing.
The committee on review of petrol pricing has summoned the Managing Directors of Oando Oil, Mr. Adewale Tinubu, Sahara Energy, Mr. Tonye Cole and the Group General Manager in charge of Crude Oil lifting in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to explain their roles in the criminal diversion.
The hearing witnessed occasional presentation of contradictory facts and figures by officials of shipping companies, inspection agencies and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) regarding quantities of crude oil lifted for export and refined products imported and eventually discharged at storage facilities.
Lawmakers have now claimed that scandal, which also involves shippers, officials of the NNPC, and high-profile Nigerians , is “worse” than the crude swap fraud.
In a bid to combat the diversion, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emanuel Ibe Kachikwu last year said, any petroleum truck not tagged or fixed with trackers will not be allowed to load products. The minister said the move is to forestall the continued diversion of trucks after loading, which is one of the consequences of scarcity situation in Nigeria.
Recently, a representative of the Nigerian Navy, Director Marine at Naval Headquarters, Navy Commodore Preston Efedue informed the House that the allegations by the oil marketers that they have to transport petrol products to neighbouring countries because of insecurity on Nigeria water ways was not true.
According to him, “I have asked the marketers one on one why they are discharging in Lome and not in Lagos, they said it was due to various charges being charged by the supervising agencies at the port which they say are too numerous.”
The summoned executives are to appear before the committee on March 15, 2017. PERSECONDS NEWS
