The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has alleged that Muhammadu Sanusi, emir of Kano and former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is bent on spreading false allegations targeted at tarnishing the reputation of the organisation.
Reacting to the claim of Sanusi that the government had not addressed the issues he raised concerning alleged missing $20 billion, the corporation advised the monarch to admit that he committed an error.
On Wednesday, Sanusi had told Christiane Amanpour, CNN international chief correspondent, that there was a high level of corruption in the oil sector and that the government had not done enough on the allegelyd missing money.
Dismissing the view of the former CBN governor in this regard, Ohi Alegbe, group general manager, group public affairs department of NNPC, said the federal government had audited the account of the corporation.
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“Our attention has been drawn to the latest gambit of the former CBN governor and Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, to reinvent the wheel of his false allegations against NNPC during an interview with Christiane Amanpour of the CNN,” Alegbe said in a statement.
“According to the royal father, one of them (issues) is the billions of dollars being paid in kerosene subsidies without appropriation by the National Assembly and against a presidential order.”
“The emir (as CBN governor) attended the hearings of the senate committee where the issue of kerosene subsidy was exhaustively looked at vis-à-vis the presidential memo directing the removal of kerosene subsidy.
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“The explanation was that the process of implementing the presidential directive was not followed through by the minister of petroleum resources at that time as required by law, which technically meant that kerosene subsidy was not removed.
“It was on the basis of this that the committee, in its report, recommended that the executive should prepare and present to the national assembly a supplementary budget.
“The budget was to cover the expenditure for N90.6 billion for premium motor spirit subsidy 2012, and N685.9 billion for kerosene subsidy expended without appropriation by the national assembly.”
The statement further explained that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) had also observed in its recent forensic audit report that regarding the issue of subsidy on DPK (kerosene), the presidential directive of October 19, 2009, was not gazetted.
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It said that PwC added that there was no other legal instrument cancelling the subsidy on DPK.
Alegbe advised Sanusi to apologise rather than to continue misleading the public.
“We are at a loss as to what Sanusi meant by his statement that issues surrounding his allegation of unremitted $20bn, especially regarding kerosene subsidy, have not been adequately addressed,” the statement read.
“Why the royal father appears hell-bent on hanging a tag of corruption on the corporation, even when all the inquiries into his allegation of unremitted funds have proved otherwise, remains a mystery to us.
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“The royal father should own up to his error of raising false allegation and apologise for same rather than continue in error.”
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2 comments
By God’s grace, folks like this Alegbe of a chap should be investigated properly after the May transition of power to APC.
His reasoning is that since there was an administrative error, a non-existent subsidy should continue to be paid to middlemen while Nigerians suffer the full price on the streets!
By God’s grace this Alegbe fellow, along with other criminals in the NNPC executive, should be properly investigated and tried for treasonable acts committed while occupying offices of great responsibility.
This chap is happy to see non-existent subsidy payments going to middlemen while poor Nigerians pay the full price of Kerosene at the pumps.
To him, the administrative error that meant that the order was not gazetted is enough morale salve to justify the continuation of this extortion and grand-theft!
One Day Go Be One Day.