By Oghenekevwe Laba
Since Mallam Nuhu Ribadu’s Task Force on Oil Revenue Report,
on corruption in Nigerian oil industry came to the public knowledge courtesy of
Reuters report and since then pressures have been on the Minister
of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deziani Allison-Madueke not only to resign her
position, but also to face prosecutions.
Those
in the forefront for the call of the sack and prosecution of the Minister are
Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Non-governmental Organization (NGO) and members
of opposition political parties. One wonders what the opposition stands to gain
by this brazen hype when it is the same minister that set up the Ribadu panel
in the first place to clean up the Augean stable of corruption in the oil
industry.
Their
grudge was the Minister’s unwillingness to accept wholly, the report submitted
by the Mallam Nuhu Ribadu-led Task Force on Oil Revenue Report. They argued
that Allison-Madueke had denigrated the report as just a “draft” which required
inputs of government before becoming a public document.
It
would be recalled that a report by Reuters, an online news portal, last
Tuesday had said a total of $183m (N28.73bn) in signature bonuses paid by oil
companies to the federation was missing. The report accused ministers of
petroleum resources between 2008 and 2011 of handing out seven discretionary
oil licenses with $183m in signature bonuses allegedly missing from the deals.
The report further alleged that three of the oil licenses were awarded since
the current minister, Alison-Madueke, came into office in 2010. It further
revealed that three oil majors; Shell, Total and Eni, made bumper
profits from cut-price gas, while oil ministers handed out licenses at their
own discretion. Even if this was not illegal, the report however said the
process did not follow best practice of using open bids.
Reuters, citing the Ribadu report had alleged that international
oil traders sometimes buy crude without formal contracts, adding that the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had short-changed the Nigerian treasury
of billions over the last 10 years by selling crude oil and gas to itself below
market rates.
Allison-Madueke
had however denied this allegation to the news agency, saying, “NNPC buys at
international rates.” She also denied awarding licenses. “I have not given any
discretionary awards during this administration,” Alison-Madueke told Reuters,
adding that the President had the right to do so, instead of using bids if he
saw it fit.
In
an excerpt of the Minister’s interview with Reuters, the Minister pointed out
that the report is not normally put in the public domain until the government’s
complete report is finalized. She explained that what normally happens
when a committee is set up is that the committee hand in its report, a team is
put together by the arm of government or agency that set up the committee in
the first place.
“That has already happened. That
team consists of people with relevant experience in the area. So, it is not just
about the Revenue Task Force. The Revenue Task Force handed in its report
sometime in September. But there were also the Governance, Control and the
Refineries Task Forces which have all sent in their draft reports.
“We have set up a team that is looking
at them across the board to see if there is a difference in opinion or a
difference in perspective. This team will complete its work and submit a
comprehensive report in the next 10 days.
“It is only after then that
government will talk about implementation and the issues that you mentioned
will be addressed. Government will decide on where to draw the line on any
issue that is not in conformity with its policies. And some of the points you
have raised are, in fact, not as they have been presented. I am very careful
not to comment on the report until it has been finalized.
“There are areas that have already
been handled by these committees because they are not the way they were
presented. What normally happens with discretionary awards is that they are part
of marginal or major bid rounds. It is in the President’s power by law to grant
discretionary awards or to go with competitive bidding or to go with a mixed
bag when you have a bid round. It is entirely up to him to decide which way to
go’’. The statement, signed by the NNPC spokesman, Fidel Pepple, titled:
“Petroleum Minister Clears Air on Committee Report” explained.
The explanation of the Petroleum
Minister was very clear on this issue. For now, the Minister had not been found
wanting on the matter. Thus, one wonders why activists, opposition parties and
NLC are calling for the neck of Allison-Madueke? Their actions could be
described as giving a dog a bad name so as hang him. If not, what
connection has Ribadu’s Report on corruption in the oil sector has to do with
the calling for resignation and prosecution of the Petroleum Minister. You are
calling on someone you’ve not found guilty of any offence to resign and face
prosecution, just because a task force came up with a report that has not passed
through due process. She said it did not have the discretionary power to award
oil blocks. Why do we not give her the benefit of doubt until all
investigations have been concluded?
If what Deziani had said about the
report going through the scrutiny of another Committee, composed of
experts with experience on the field before it could become a material of
public consumption is anything to go by, it means Ribadu goofed and should be
queried for not following due process by leaking such sensitive draft to a
foreign media.
A source in Department of
Petroleum Resources (DPR) who felt the leakage of the draft has caused a lot of
confusion, however argued that it is like Ribadu Committee did not have
enough understanding of the difference between exploration block (OPL)
awards and Marginal Fields awards.
“As part of our clarification
it is important to distinguish between the issuing of "Oil Blocks"
with that of"Marginal Fields". There were indeed some
Discretionary awards of "Marginal Fields" as follows:-
-Okwok and Ebok which were
awarded to Oriental Energy in May 2007 as compensation for loses due to
boundary adjustment
-Ubima was awarded to All Grace Nigeria Ltd in 2010, as encouragement for
commitment to small scale gas project
-Otakipko was awarded to Green Energy Ltd, also in 2010 (same reason as above).
It is pertinent to note
that this is standard practice and not one that was initiated by the present
government. The three (Allgrace, Oriental and Green Energy) are
Marginal field awardees,” DPR source revealed.
This is a question for Deziani
critics. Who set up the Ribadu committee? Was it Reuters? Hmmmm! It has
been submitted to Reuters by “very patriotic people”. Who should now implement
it? Labour, civil society and opposition parties need to have a rethink.
You do not condemn government officials because you feel like doing it.
It could probably be that Deziani
would have requested for the appointment of Ribadu as the Head of the Board in
order to bring sanity in the oil industry. If so it means the lady
means well for Nigeria. But some people do not see it from that perspective
because of their selfish reasons or I must criticize syndrome.
If President Jonathan did not
mean well for Nigeria he would not have set up Ribadu Committee to check
mate corruption in the oil industry. Now after the report was ready instead of
submitting same to the Jonathan government that set it up as protocol demands,
he chose to ridicule him by leaking the report to Reuters which now portrays the
government in bad light.
In this case who is to
blame? Is it Deziani who wants the oil industry to be sanitized or Ribadu
who went out to wash Nigeria’s dirty linens in the international press without
following due process? Where have you seen a committee set up by the President
of America or United Kingdom leaking confidential report to Nigerian press? We
sell ourselves sheepishly to the outside world.
One can still remember vividly
when ACN vehemently protested Ribadu’s appointment as head of the committee.
Now there could be a political angle to this leakage which could be traced to
ACN who might have been secretly spying on the committee or even have a mole
planted in the committee in order to rubbish Jonathan’s administration.
However, those calling for the
sack and trial of the petroleum minister are just being unfair and their demand
could be described as a barbaric act. The fraud in the industry was not
committed by her, but rather by previous oil ministers. Even if the report
alleged that three of the blocks were sold in her tenure, it might not be her
making as she did not officially have discretionary power to award blocks.
Past events had shown that Deziani
has always been a point of attack by those who call themselves social
critics, opposition politicians and Labour Union. Two reasons
could be responsible for such subjective criticism. Either the critics are
jealous because she is a female Minister or simply because she is from the same
state with the President. What is wrong in her being a woman or coming from the
same state with the president? What Nigerians want is someone who can do a good
job and move the oil industry forward.
Deziani’s problem
could probably be traced to those she stepped on their toes in effort of
cleaning the rot in the oil industry. Since, she came in, she had implemented
some policies which have got serious effect on the oil cartel who have been
milking the nation dry of millions of dollars. Thus, the uproar that followed
the introduction of fuel subsidy is the discovery of oil thieves. Right now
many of the alleged oil thieves are facing corruption charges in court.
All said and done, the report of the
Ribadu’s Committee should not be allowed to set confusion in the ongoing
systematic policy of the oil ministry to clean the organization of corrupt
dealings. Consequently, those calling for the sack of the Oil Minister should
have a rethink that whatever action she takes is meant to move Nigeria forward
in the oil industry.
By Oghenekevwe Laba (08023773039)
a Lagos based journalist and
social critic
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