The House yesterday summoned the immediate past executive secretary of the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency, Engr. Goody Egbuji, to appear today to answer to massive allegation of fraud in the agency while he was in charge.
The Reps Ad-hoc committee on the investigation of fuel subsidy regime in Nigeria said on Wednesday that “There are issues raised here that are related to when he was the head of that agency so we expect him to be here tomorrow to give answers to the questions.”
Meanwhile, endemic piracy and armed robbery on Nigeria’s water ways have taken a worrisome dimension particularly in the Calabar axis of the country.This position was made known yesterday by the managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Engr. Suleiman Omar, in Abuja when he appeared before the House of Reps Ad-hoc committee on the investigation of fuel subsidy regime in Nigeria.Represented by the executive director, marine operations of NPA, Mr Sotonye Etomi,? the agency told the panel that it was handicapped in curtailing this growing piracy and its ripple effects on the economy. He also stated that owing to the increasing spate of piracy, oil bunkering now thrives along Nigeria’s coastal lines.He said arrangements with Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy are in top gear on ways to safeguard the country’s water waves.
Speaking on the role of the NPA in the management of petroleum-related issues, Etomi revealed to the panel that the federal government directed NPA to grant 50 per cent waiver to all jetty importing petroleum products into the country and that no time frame for the expiration of this waiver was given. According to him, this waiver has been operational since early 2011.