Nigerians must not forget so soon that the whereabouts of $20billion of the nation’s oil revenue is still shrouded in mystery. The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and now Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammadu Sanusi II, had shocked the world with incontrovertible evidence that $49.8billion of crude sales was yet to be remitted into the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Even though the allegation was contained in a confidential letter to President Goodluck Jonathan by Sanusi, no action was taken until the matter became public knowledge through the press, about three months after the president got the letter.
The nation was appalled. The uproar it generated had sent the relevant machinery of government into over-drive. The Senate waded in and referred the matter to its Committee on Finance for “thorough investigation”. Public and private hearings were conducted. Countless reconciliation meetings were held by the CBN, NNPC, Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MoPR), Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the auditor-general of the federation.
The Senate committee in its report unequivocally stated “that all parties, i.e., CBN, NNPC, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Petroleum Resources had resolved through reconciliation undertaken by them that $47billion had been received into the Federation Account out of the total oil lifting valued at $67billion between January 2012 and July 2013.” This left a balance of $20billion!
Following this lacuna, minister of finance and coordinating minister for the economy Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in May told over 1,500 delegates from about 80 countries that participated in the 24th World Economic Forum on Africa, in Abuja, that the federal government had appointed Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), an auditing firm under the supervision of the auditor-general of the federation, to undertake a forensic audit of the NNPC, in a bid to trace the missing $20billion. Okonjo-Iweala, who spoke at a panelists’ discussion on the topic “Africa Rising’’ at the Forum, noted that the auditing exercise which had commenced would be carried out within a period of 16 weeks. She told the audience that the forensic audit would help unravel the mystery surrounding the $20billion.
Responding to a question by one of the panelists bordering on corruption and transparency in the conduct of government business in Nigeria, she was quoted to have said, “The issue of holding government to account, I don’t think Nigerians are laying back. We need that transparency and we welcome it. The (suspended) CBN governor raised issues that had to do with unaccounted amount from the Federation Account. We at the Ministry of Finance have, for two years, been reconciling these figures with the NNPC to know what they are supposed to remit to the Federation Account. Our feeling is that the only way is to have a forensic audit that would let Nigerians know the issue. There is a forensic audit that the government has approved and it is being done by PwC under the supervision of the auditor-general for the federation, and they said they need 12 to 16 weeks to do that and all these would be clarified.” That was in May. It is over 16 weeks, yet no news from PwC, no word from the federal government.
Meanwhile, Jonathan did not bother to follow due process in line with the law and civilized practice nor the report of the Senate and the PwC before suspending Sanusi over allegations of financial recklessness. To further impede the work of the firm, a senior management staff of the NNPC and group executive director (GED) in charge of production and exploration, Mr Abiye Membere, who was key in the investigation, was sacked in questionable circumstances. As if that was not a stumbling block enough, the group managing director of the NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, also central to the issues at stake, was recently sacked as well.
Alison-Madueke’s tenure as petroleum minister, which started in 2011, has been sullied by anguish, controversies and unimaginable corruption at the NNPC. In 2011, the National Assembly approved N245billion for fuel subsidy. But Diezani and the NNPC spent N2.5 trillion, according Hon. Lawan’s report.
The wild protests that erupted in January 2012 over sharp increase in the price of fuel and the subsequent investigation by the parliament made it clear that the federal government used a larger chunk of the N2.5 trillion to corruptly enrich officials of the petroleum ministry, NNPC, subsidy agencies, oil marketers and cronies. Some of the marketers have been undergoing interminable and lackadaisical prosecution since 2012. It is germane to state that the federal government has been spending about N971.1billion annually since then on petrol subsidy, which goes to prove that more than N1trillion was plundered from the nation’s coffers in 2011 alone on Alison-Madueke’s watch. Additionally, in 2012, Alison-Madueke gained the National Assembly’s approval for a loan of $1.6billion to carry out turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the nation’s four refineries. With the loan approved, she had promised Nigerians that the refineries would function at 90 per cent capacity after the repairs. Notwithstanding, the best the facilities have averaged since then is a paltry 22 per cent capacity utilization.
Yet, with over N900billion spent on kerosene subsidy daily by Alison-Madueke and the NNPC, the product does not get to consumers who pay as much as N150 per litre, instead of the NNPC’s N55 per litre. It is even worse that the funds were unilaterally deducted at source from oil revenues by NNPC and Alison-Madueke without the National Assembly’s approval. Again, this was in flagrant violation of a presidential directive that stopped kerosene subsidy in 2009.
It can be argued that Alison-Madueke’s prodigal proclivity has been on the rise due to the mere fact that the NNPC generates more than two-thirds of the nation’s external revenue. She stands accused of extravagantly wasting about N10 billion to maintain one of the three private jets she is using for official and personal travels. Yet, buoyed by her present sense of “untouchability”, which appears to have the imprimatur of the president, she has continued to regale the nation with her swags. The president, in defence of Diezani, had declared that no money was missing in the NNPC and that his ministers were suffering from over-invitation and investigation from the parliament.
Since the president recently admitted that 60 per cent of subsidy funds between 2011 and 2013 ended up in private pockets, who are those that plundered the national till in such brazen manner? Why are they not being held to account? Why is there no effort to recover the money from Ali Baba and the 40 thieves?
Why is Alison-Madueke being over-protected by the president? In saner climes, the totality of these misdeeds is enough to sack and prosecute any public official.
In 2011, there were speculations that the over N1trillion subsidy funds were channelled into his campaign funds. Presently, there are insinuations that the much-sought-after missing $20billion is being surreptitiously spent to organize illegal 2015 electioneering for the president by amorphous groups around the country. I believe the truth about the missing $20billion shall come to light one day. Ours is not to relent in demanding it!
Comrade Timi Frank
Nigerians must not forget so soon that the whereabouts of $20billion of the nation’s oil revenue is still shrouded in mystery. The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and now Emir of Kano, Mallam Muhammadu Sanusi II, had shocked the world with incontrovertible evidence that $49.8billion of crude sales was yet to be remitted into the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Even though the allegation was contained in a confidential letter to President Goodluck Jonathan by Sanusi, no action was taken until the matter became public knowledge through the press, about three months after the president got the letter.
The nation was appalled. The uproar it generated had sent the relevant machinery of government into over-drive. The Senate waded in and referred the matter to its Committee on Finance for “thorough investigation”. Public and private hearings were conducted. Countless reconciliation meetings were held by the CBN, NNPC, Ministry of Finance (MoF), Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MoPR), Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and the auditor-general of the federation.
The Senate committee in its report unequivocally stated “that all parties, i.e., CBN, NNPC, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Petroleum Resources had resolved through reconciliation undertaken by them that $47billion had been received into the Federation Account out of the total oil lifting valued at $67billion between January 2012 and July 2013.” This left a balance of $20billion!
Following this lacuna, minister of finance and coordinating minister for the economy Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in May told over 1,500 delegates from about 80 countries that participated in the 24th World Economic Forum on Africa, in Abuja, that the federal government had appointed Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), an auditing firm under the supervision of the auditor-general of the federation, to undertake a forensic audit of the NNPC, in a bid to trace the missing $20billion. Okonjo-Iweala, who spoke at a panelists’ discussion on the topic “Africa Rising’’ at the Forum, noted that the auditing exercise which had commenced would be carried out within a period of 16 weeks. She told the audience that the forensic audit would help unravel the mystery surrounding the $20billion.
Responding to a question by one of the panelists bordering on corruption and transparency in the conduct of government business in Nigeria, she was quoted to have said, “The issue of holding government to account, I don’t think Nigerians are laying back. We need that transparency and we welcome it. The (suspended) CBN governor raised issues that had to do with unaccounted amount from the Federation Account. We at the Ministry of Finance have, for two years, been reconciling these figures with the NNPC to know what they are supposed to remit to the Federation Account. Our feeling is that the only way is to have a forensic audit that would let Nigerians know the issue. There is a forensic audit that the government has approved and it is being done by PwC under the supervision of the auditor-general for the federation, and they said they need 12 to 16 weeks to do that and all these would be clarified.” That was in May. It is over 16 weeks, yet no news from PwC, no word from the federal government.
Meanwhile, Jonathan did not bother to follow due process in line with the law and civilized practice nor the report of the Senate and the PwC before suspending Sanusi over allegations of financial recklessness. To further impede the work of the firm, a senior management staff of the NNPC and group executive director (GED) in charge of production and exploration, Mr Abiye Membere, who was key in the investigation, was sacked in questionable circumstances. As if that was not a stumbling block enough, the group managing director of the NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, also central to the issues at stake, was recently sacked as well.
Alison-Madueke’s tenure as petroleum minister, which started in 2011, has been sullied by anguish, controversies and unimaginable corruption at the NNPC. In 2011, the National Assembly approved N245billion for fuel subsidy. But Diezani and the NNPC spent N2.5 trillion, according Hon. Lawan’s report.
The wild protests that erupted in January 2012 over sharp increase in the price of fuel and the subsequent investigation by the parliament made it clear that the federal government used a larger chunk of the N2.5 trillion to corruptly enrich officials of the petroleum ministry, NNPC, subsidy agencies, oil marketers and cronies. Some of the marketers have been undergoing interminable and lackadaisical prosecution since 2012. It is germane to state that the federal government has been spending about N971.1billion annually since then on petrol subsidy, which goes to prove that more than N1trillion was plundered from the nation’s coffers in 2011 alone on Alison-Madueke’s watch. Additionally, in 2012, Alison-Madueke gained the National Assembly’s approval for a loan of $1.6billion to carry out turnaround maintenance (TAM) of the nation’s four refineries. With the loan approved, she had promised Nigerians that the refineries would function at 90 per cent capacity after the repairs. Notwithstanding, the best the facilities have averaged since then is a paltry 22 per cent capacity utilization.
Yet, with over N900billion spent on kerosene subsidy daily by Alison-Madueke and the NNPC, the product does not get to consumers who pay as much as N150 per litre, instead of the NNPC’s N55 per litre. It is even worse that the funds were unilaterally deducted at source from oil revenues by NNPC and Alison-Madueke without the National Assembly’s approval. Again, this was in flagrant violation of a presidential directive that stopped kerosene subsidy in 2009.
It can be argued that Alison-Madueke’s prodigal proclivity has been on the rise due to the mere fact that the NNPC generates more than two-thirds of the nation’s external revenue. She stands accused of extravagantly wasting about N10 billion to maintain one of the three private jets she is using for official and personal travels. Yet, buoyed by her present sense of “untouchability”, which appears to have the imprimatur of the president, she has continued to regale the nation with her swags. The president, in defence of Diezani, had declared that no money was missing in the NNPC and that his ministers were suffering from over-invitation and investigation from the parliament.
Since the president recently admitted that 60 per cent of subsidy funds between 2011 and 2013 ended up in private pockets, who are those that plundered the national till in such brazen manner? Why are they not being held to account? Why is there no effort to recover the money from Ali Baba and the 40 thieves?
Why is Alison-Madueke being over-protected by the president? In saner climes, the totality of these misdeeds is enough to sack and prosecute any public official.
In 2011, there were speculations that the over N1trillion subsidy funds were channelled into his campaign funds. Presently, there are insinuations that the much-sought-after missing $20billion is being surreptitiously spent to organize illegal 2015 electioneering for the president by amorphous groups around the country. I believe the truth about the missing $20billion shall come to light one day. Ours is not to relent in demanding it!
