Subsidy: EFCC raids PPPRA, seizes documents

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has raided the offices of the Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPRA) in Lagos and Abuja and seized some documents.This followed the order by President Goodluck Jonathan directing the anti-graft body to probe alleged fraud in the payment of fuel and kerosene to importers.PPPRA is the agency of government responsible for payment of fuel subsidy on fuel imported by importers.Daily Trust gathered that the operatives arrived at the PPPRA offices in the morning fully armed in four buses and demanded for various documents relating to payment of subsidy on petrol and kerosene.An official of PPPRA who witnessed the raid and spoke under anonymity to Daily Trust said the operations lasted for two hours while all documents requested made by the security operatives were supplied.He said after getting what they demanded for, the operatives left with no arrest made.The spokesman of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed to Daily Trust that the commission has confiscated documents after visiting the offices.Uwujaren added that the early stage of investigations will focus on marketers to determine who imported what, where, when, and how.He said the commission will peruse the documents to identify the vessels that imported petroleum products to authenticate the origins of the imported products and the truth about their costs.According to the EFCC spokesman, 'there will be a foreign leg of the investigation, to determine the true price quoted for products at the time of purchase so as to verify the claim of marketers'.He said the commission will leave no stone unturned, reiterating the position of acting chairman Ibrahim Larmorde that arrest of culpable suspects will be the final stage investigation.
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