Mrs Adefunke Kasali, Executive Secretary of Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), said on Tuesday in Lagos that the newly-introduced soft code titled “Project Aquila” had saved the Federal Government about N300 million. Kasali said that the agency had taken a bold step to eliminate corruption and ensure prompt payment of bridging cost through the introduction of ‘Project Aquila’.

Project Aquila is a technology designed by PEF to facilitate quick payment of claims by marketers as well as to detect any fake transaction. She said that PEF had detected and stopped payment of more than N400million in fictitious claims by petroleum marketers in the last one year of its operation.

The executive secretary said with Project Aquila, the presentation of fake tickets for reimbursement for products that were not supplied would drastically reduce. She said that the delays often experienced in paying transporters and which often resulted in strikes by tanker drivers would finally be laid to rest.

Kasali said that unusual presentation of fake claims by some marketers had been uncovered, adding that such marketers would soon be sanctioned in line with the powers vested in the agency.

“The process is also to checkmate the annual loss of N15 billion to the activities of some unscrupulous petroleum tanker drivers who engaged in some unethical activities such as diversion of some petroleum products.

“The project will introduce high level of transparency and efficiency in the movement of petroleum  products and ensure prompt payment of monies that transporters should have been paid by the Petroleum Equalisation Fund, the body responsible for payment of bridging  money to transporters,” she said.

Kasali recalled that before 2010, PEF owed marketers of petroleum products a huge sum of money, a situation she attributed to lack of funds as well as inadequate staff to process the backlog.