Financial Atrocities Of Minister Diezani Allison-Madueke That Need Attention

The Presidential Media Chat on May 4, 2014, did not clear the air on the case of missing USD20billion oil money. Moreover, President Jonathan got blasted for his comments on the Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke during the event.

* Goodluck Jonathan and Diezani Allison-Madueke. Photo credit – SaharaReporters

Therefore, it is necessary once again to sum up the questions which must be answered by Jonathan’s administration.

1. Do UK-based Seven Energy (Seven) and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Ltd. (Atlantic) have any strong track record in crude oil production? Are the two companies related?

2. Is the purported Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) entered into by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in accordance with due process as required by the Public Procurement Act?

3. Why did the NNPC decide to enter into an alliance with firms that apparently lacked the required expertise to carry out the job?

4. If these companies do not have the experience in crude oil production, why were they chosen as operators?

5. Why did the NNPC by virtue of managing the Joint Venture on behalf of the Federal Government singlehandedly took over the Federation’s interest and handed it over to NPDC not to manage, but to own?

The questions above are only the tip of an iceberg. Another issue that came to the fore was the non-remittance of crude proceeds to the Federation Account by the NNPC.

For instance, records show that in the first quarter of 2012 NNPC sent its returns to FAAC and indicated it had deducted N180billion as subsidy on petroleum products imported by it.

Note that the NNPC had been directed by the presidency to stop subsidy deductions since 2011 but the management explained that these were deductions with respect to the imports in the last quarter of 2011.

Further note that there had been several allegations against NNPC for non-remittance of funds to the Federation Account. NEITI, KPMG and Nuhu Ribadu, all made similar complaints in their various reports.

There were also revelations about leakages from the system through opaque and complex Swap transactions between PPMC and some counter-parties. It was established that since 2011 the transactions were not properly structured, monitored and audited.

Why should companies in Swap agreements with PPMC lift crude oil for free, sell at the international market, repatriate the funds and sell at the autonomous rate?

For the avoidance of doubt, some of the companies allegedly involved in the swap deals include NNPC and Societe Ivorienne de Raffinage (SIR), PPMC and Duke Oil Services, and Duke Oil Services and Taleveras Petroleum Trading BV.

Why should agreements signed by PPMC contain a clause that permits destruction of documents after one year? Is this not fraudulent and suspicious?

Do all of these not amount to financial recklessness? Are these acts not enough to warrant the sack or suspension of those found wanting?

Therefore, one of the options to save the image of Nigeria in the eyes of the global community is thorough investigation under personal control of President Jonathan, as well as possible sack of Alison-Madueke.

By Comrade Timi Frank

Note: the views expressed in the article are author's own and may not necessarily represent the editorial policy of Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng