PRESS RELEASE
The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has backed the House of Representatives’ move to investigate the volume and value of crude oil sales and remittance by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation from January 2011 to date.
The House of Representatives had on Thursday ordered another round of investigation into crude oil sales and remittances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
The resolution of the House followed a motion moved by Mr. Haruna Manu, who raised the alarm that about $13.9bn crude oil revenue could not be accounted for by the NNPC.
Manu, who quoted from statistics allegedly generated by the NNPC, told the House that the value for crude oil sales from January to August stood at $20.9bn. He, however, said only $7bn was remitted to the Federation Account by the corporation.
Reacting to the development on behalf of the Coalition, its Executive Chairman, Mr Debo Adeniran noted that the NNPC has been the cesspit of corruption in the country and therefore lauded the move of the lower chamber.
He said, “It is a known fact that the Petroleum Ministry is the cesspit of corruption in this corruption going by the massive corruption being perpetuated by the NNPC and its subsidiaries. There is also no doubt that the ministry has penchant for operating in the dark. This is a sensitive allegation that Nigerians will want to follow to a logical end; indeed, it is ridiculous that more than 60% of the crude oil sales generated over ten months by the corporation was not remitted into the federation account, which suggests that we have lost the better part of the generated revenue that should have been used to develop the various sectors and thereby translate to better standard of living for the teeming population, into the pockets of some selected few.
Our Coalition has called for the probe of the Minister of Petroleum who also doubles as the Chairman of the NNPC, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke. There is need for extensive investigation into the activities of the Petroleum Minister since she assumed office. Nigerians want to know the reason why a staggering $13.9 billion was not remitted in ten months? The whole of the petroleum sector needs thorough auditing because there are lots of shenanigans being perpetrated by the handlers of the ministry.”
Speaking further, the anti-corruption crusader averred that Nigerians are waiting for the report of the probe committee and thereby urged the lower house to make public its findings.
“Nigerians are anxiously waiting for the report of the ad hoc committee. It must also be noted that some of us are closely monitoring the probe too. This should not be allowed to go the way of the Fuel Subsidy probe. Whatever report the House of Reps comes up with should be made public and sent to the anti-graft agencies to prosecute whosoever is found to have abused his office.”
Abimbola Adegoke
Media Officer, CACOL
25 November, 2013