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L -R: President Goodluck Jonathan receiving reports from the
Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani
Alison-Madueke; Chairman,
Petroleum Task Force on Governance and Controls, Mr. Dotun Sulieman; Chairman,
Petroleum Revenue Task Force, Mallam
Nuhu Ribadu and Alternate Chairman, National Refineries Special Task Force,
Yusuf Ali at the presentation of their various reports at the Presidential
Villa, Abuja Yesterday.
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The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani
Alison-Madueke, has said that the various task forces set up by the government
to probe operations in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector after an announced removal
of oil subsidy in early January sparked widespread protest across some cities,
had performed their duties without any form of interference from her ministry.
Alison-Madueke stated this yesterday in Abuja at the
presentation of reports of the three task forces (The Petroleum Revenues Task
Force, Governance and Controls Task Force and the National Refineries Task
Force) set up in February.
She dismissed insinuations that the government may have
manipulated proceedings of the various committees with the aim of influencing
their conclusions. “Once the task forces were inaugurated, I let them do their
work without let or interference.
“I never for once called in members to seek to influence
them one way or another and I gave them full access to the parastatals, to deal
with all elements of their terms of reference to the extent that some members
have even said I was too aloof from their work.
"This was deliberate as we wanted full independence of
thought and action for the task forces. Indeed, it has already been agreed with
the task forces that within two weeks we will hold working meetings to review
what we have done and what needs to be done going forward.”
The minister called on the National Assembly to swiftly pass
the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which is before them to give a legislative
backing to the efforts to reform the oil and gas sector, adding that the
recommendations of the task forces would be considered by the president and the
Federal Executive Council, and that once approved they would be implemented.
“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 from the reports of these task forces. To
this end, we are already setting up a unit at the Ministry of Petroleum
Resources to ensure full compliance with the letters and spirit of these
reports,” she said.
National President of PENGASSAN, Mr. Babatunde Ogun, had
expressed skepticism over the origins of the reports on the ground that one of
the task forces, the National Refineries Special Task Force, of which he is a
member was yet to conclude its assignment but invited to present a concluded
report to the president.
There was however a mild drama as the report of the
Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force chaired by former Chairman of the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, was submitted at the State
House, Abuja.
Ribadu traded blames with former Head of Service of the
Federation, Mr. Steve Oronsanye, who is also deputy chairman of the committee
after he raised an observation faulting the process by which the committee
compiled its report, noting that its conclusions cannot therefore stand. (See
story in Discordant Tune)
But President Jonathan, who keenly listened to the
exchanges, later tried to defuse the awkward situation by saying that it is not
unusual for committee members to have divergent opinions on the assignment they
are handling. He had encouraging words for both men noting that they are both
patriots who are concerned about the future of the nation.
He advised Nigerians not to allow the disagreement to
overshadow the real essence of the committee’s work which is to sanitise the
oil and gas sector in a way that benefits Nigerians.
With regard to the disagreement, he explained that any
member of the Ribadu Committee who had a contrary opinion from those expressed
in the report should submit such opinion to him through his chief of staff or
the minister of petroleum resources.
The former EFCC helmsman said he is hopeful the president
will accept and implement the recommendations made by his committee as they
will strengthen the management of the petroleum industry.
He stated that the committee’s review exercise was extensive
and detailed. Some of these recommendations include the need to increase
revenue accruing to the petroleum industry; enhanced management of manpower in
the industry and aggressive collection of royalties from multinational oil
corporations operating in the country.
Also recommended were the automation of the petroleum
industry and the establishment of an independent office for the transformation of
the industry.
Oronsaye suggested that the report should not be accepted
because it was clearly evident that there were procedural flaws in its making.
Oronsaye observed that “if a process is flawed, the outcome of that process
will not be steely,” insisting that the earlier report circulated was not
accepted by members, so it cannot be implemented.
He explained that the last time committee met in June or
July it was agreed that a small group should be put together to “review, modify
and return the draft to the report drafting committee before reporting to the
whole house”.
He said this was not done, adding that instead, last
Wednesday, at about 5pm he received an email with the report attached to it.
Oronsaye’s reservation was an ironic twist of fate for the
committee given that it had only a day earlier been obliged to discredit a
report quoted largely by the media last week alleging that tens of billions of
dollars had been lost in cut-price deals struck between multinational oil
companies and government officials in the oil and gas sector.
Ribadu, however, dismissed Oronsaye’s claims. He told
reporters that there were only two dissenting voices in his committee, alleging
that both may have been compromised with government appointments.
Alison-Madueke explained that although both men had
disparate views, the job they did was fantastic, noting that “a mountain should
not be made out of a mole hill”.
Apart from the verbal exchanges that ensued between Ribadu
and Oronsaye, another major feature of the report submission was the absence of
eight out of the 21 members of the committee.
Both Ribadu and Oronsaye had their supporters during the
verbal exchange that was deflected by President Jonathan. Bon Oti supported
Oronsaye while Samaila Zubairu backed Ribadu.
Members of the Ribadu committee present at the submission of
its report are Nuhu Ribadu, the chairman, Mr Steve Oronsaye, his deputy,
Anthony George Ikoli, Pastor Itua Ighodalo, Mr Bon Oti, Mal. Samaila Zubairu
and Mr Ignatius Adegunle.
Other members of the committee are ex-officio representing
the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Federal Ministry of Finance, offices of the Attorney-General/Minister of Justice
and the Accountant General of the Federation; Department of Petroleum Resources
(DPR) as well as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
Those absent were Mallam Abba Kyari, Ms Benedicta Molokwu,
Supo Sasore (SAN), Mr Tony Idigbe,
Omolara Akanji, Mr Olisa Agbakoba, Prof.
Olusegun Okunnu and Gerald Ilukwe.
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