We wish to comment on the recentlysubmitted report of the Petroleum Special Task Force Report with ourobservations and comments below:
LEAKAGE OF REPORT:
We have observed that the leakage ofthe report was pre-meditated and a deliberate attempt to bring the governmentto disrepute. Perhaps, Nuhu Ribadu does not know that there is nothing new inthe report. The content of the report is nothing different from several otherreports on the oil sector in the public domain and presently gathering dust onmany shelves. Examples include the KPMG Report, various Senate and House ofRepresentative reports on the Petroleum Sector. Therefore, the deliberateleakage is an attempt to embarrass government and it is unacceptable.
ALLEGED COVER-UP:
Reports from certain quarters arealleging that government’s intention was to cover-up the report. If we may askwhat is new in this report that anyone would want to cover-up? We have allacknowledged the level of decay in the oil sector in the past 30 to 40 years.What Nigerians should appreciate in the resolve of President Goodluck Jonathan,in conjunction with the hard-working Minister of Petroleum Resources, in theperson of Mrs. Diezani Madueke, to clean up and sanitize the oil sector. Whatwe are seeing is a case of corruption fighting back. Therefore, we must allgive the President unalloyed support for him to succeed and bring the neededsanity to the oil sector which is our economic mainstay.
INCONCLUSIVE REPORT:
The report as submitted isinconclusive. Paragraph 4 of page 2 of the report states that “The Data used inthe report was presented by various stakeholders who made submissions to thetaskforce in the course of our assignment at various dates which have beendisclosed in relevant sections of this report. Due to time frame of theassignment, some of the data used could not be independently verified and thetaskforce recommends that government should conduct such necessary verificationand reconciliation”. The question to ask here is why the hurry to present thisreport when you have not verified and reconciled your data and figures?Invariably, the Ribadu Committee has thrown the ball back to thegovernment by advising the government to “conduct such necessary verificationand reconciliation. With the foregoing, it becomes clear that the taskforce didnot complete its work. The paragraph further goes to confirm that the PRSTFunder the Chairmanship of Ribadu abdicated its core mandate. The paragraph inreference should be put side
by side with the NLNG advertorial onpage 54 and 55 of The Guardian newspaper of Tuesday,, November 6, 2012. Itemone of the advertorial states clearly “That the Taskforce neither met with NLNGmanagement or visited the company in the course of its work.” It also claimedthat the Taskforce is only a fact finding committee and not investigative .Weall know that when figures and data could not be verified and reconciled by agovernment agency and an operator, the next line of action is usuallylitigation. And in carrying out important assignment of this nature, processesmust be followed to arrive at a logical conclusion and a better and acceptablereport produced.
ALLEGATION OF SCUTLING REVENUEACCURABLE TO GOVERNMENT
The unsubstantiated allegationagainst Mr. Stephen Oronsaye so far remains an allegation and it shall remainso as long as the accuser has not been able to give verifiable evidence. Mr.Stephen Oronsaye has stated that he had no relationship/dealings with ADDAXPETROLEUM and has even gone further to challenge the accuser to make public anyevidence he may have. There are also allegations of sitting allowance collectedby Mr. Stephen Oronsaye without sitting at committee meetings. This is a clearcase of smearing one’s name and should be discouraged in its entirety. We areof the opinion that Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, whom many see and perceiveas an upright man should apologize to Mr. Stephen Oronsaye.
TERMS OF REFERENCE OF TASKFORCE ANDCONFLICT OF INTEREST
The Terms of Reference of theTaskforce did not include NNPC, so there couldn’t have been any conflict ofinterest in some members of the Taskforce of membership of the board of NNPC.Indeed, DPR which collects oil and gas revenue on behalf of the FGN as well asFIRS which collects taxes on the oil industry on behalf of the FederalGovernment of Nigeria had representatives in the Taskforce. Yet, their bookswere subjected to scrutiny by the Task force. Furthermore, the Taskforce isonly a fact finding committee and not an investigative one, how then would theTaskforce have gotten verifiable figures and data from NNPC if NNPC boardmembers would not be in the Taskforce. Mallam Abbi Kyari who is a Director ofMobil Marketing is a Taskforce member, and Mobil is one of the entities thatits activities were to be looked into as an operator in the oil sector.
We want Nigerians to know that theresistance put up by members of the committee at the Villa on the day ofpresentation of the report is purely to save Nigeria the huge embarrassmentcaused by the leaked report. Mr. Stephen Oronsaye did not say that the reportshould not be accepted; he said the report should not be submitted at this timeand that it is work in progress. Theissues here are far beyond Stephen Oronsaye and Bernard Otti and other members.These men deserve Presidential commendation. It is the image of Nigeria that isat stake. It is unfortunate that the good intention of President Jonathanin putting in motion, processes of sanitize the oil sector is beingmisconstrued and politicized out of context. This is unfortunate andregrettable. It is an unintended consequence of a genuine desire to transformthe oil sector.
CONCLUSION:
In view of the submissions andobservation above, it becomes pertinent to call on the government to set asidethe PRSTF Report. The haste with which people are pronounced fraudulent andguilty is- fast becoming a tradition in this country. We must discourage it.
Joseph Ambakaderimo is the ExecutiveDirector, Nigerian Rebirth Initiative.
Copyright: Fresh Angle International (www.freshangleng.com)
ISSN 2354 - 4104
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