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| Alison |
… as Group flays call for her sack
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, says that the Federal Government will implement the White Paper on the reports of the task forces set up on the petroleum industry. The minister gave the assurance in Abuja at the weekend during the presentation of the reports of three task forces to President Goodluck Jonathan.
She said that the implementation of the reports would commence as soon as the President approved it. The task forces are the Special Task Force on Corporate Governance and Controls in NNPC and other parastatal agencies of the petroleum ministry, the Special Task Force on National Refineries and the Special Task Force on Petroleum Revenue.
The minister’s assurance came as a Non Governmental Organisation, Association of Good Governance and Probity in Nigeria disagreed with Labour and other civil society organisations for blaming the rots in the nation’s oil sector on the Minister, pointing out that the whole mess in that sector preceded President Goodluck Jonathan and Madueke.
The group therefore described the call for the sack of the Petroleum Resources minister as uncalled for and diversionary.
The group wondered what Labour and opposition stand to gain by the call for sack of the minister especially when it is the same minister that set up the Mallam Nuhu Ribadu panel in the first place to clean up the Augean stable of corruption in the oil industry.
Exonerating the minister from the rot in the nation’s oil sector, spokesman for the group, Mr. Daniel Agada said Labour and other civil society groups have failed to point out clearly the failings of Mrs. Allison Madueke, noting that those blaming her for the rot in the nation’s oil sector have ulterior motives.
“Their actions could be described as giving a dog a bad name so as hang it. 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 she 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 they asked,” Agada querried .
It would be recalled that a report by Reuters, an overseas 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 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.
Speaking on the reports,“Once considered and approved by Mr President and the Federal Executive Council, it is my determination to ensure the full implementation of the White Paper on the reports of these task forces.
She stressed that the ministry had already set up a unit to ensure full compliance with the provisions of the reports.
Alison-Madueke said that that task forces were set up to bring sanity, efficiency and transparency to the oil and gas industry, in the lead-up to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
The minister stressed that she did not interfere with the assignment of the task forces. She expressed optimism that recommendations in the report would signal a new beginning for the oil and gas sector.
However, Alison-Madueke called on the National Assembly to speedily pass the PIB so as to give legislative backing to the drive to transform the oil and gas sector.
“We urge the National Assembly to pass the new PIB into law as quickly as possible so as to give the necessary legislative backing to our transformation efforts in the oil and gas industry,’’ she said.
She pledged that the government would continue with the reform of the oil and gas industry in order to reduce waste, inefficiency and corruption.
Alison-Madueke said that the measure would go a long way to facilitate the transition of NNPC and its parastatal agencies to a post-PIB milieu.
Mr Dotun Sulaiman, chaired the Task Force on Corporate Governance and Controls, while Malam Nuhu Ribadu and Mr Kalu Idika Kalu headed the task forces on petroleum revenue and national refineries respectively.
The task forces were inaugurated in February by Alison-Madueke, with a view to transforming the country’s oil and gas sector
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