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Conference of Nigerian Political Parties has faulted the composition of the
Board for Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), asking for the
immediate removal of the Oil Minister, Deziani Madueke as the Board chairman.
The
Conference argued that the removal of the minister as the chairman of the
NNPC board has been necessitated by the recent revelation of financial
malfeasance within the organization bordering on illegal grant of loans.
Secretary-General of the CNPP, Willy Ezugwu in a statement Tuesday in Abuja said
that the way the board of the NNPC was composed suggested that the government
was yet to appreciate the fears of the people that the activities of the
Corporation were still largely business as usual.
He explained that smacks of mal-administration in a situation where the minister who has been at the center of the oil subsidy controversies that led to a national paralysis for over a week and the NNPC under her watch indicted for complicity in the subsidy fraud rather being relived of her position could rather be rewarded with appointment as the chairman of the board of the same contaminated agency. Ezugwu argued that there was no moral justification by President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint Deziani as the head of the NNPC board not even after the former Group Managing Director was unceremoniously removed on account of same sleazy for which the minister has been accused of. “From all indication, it appears the Petroleum Minister is fronting for some interest in the presidency. How could the NNPC under her watch could have been indicted heavily for illegal deduction from the national excess crude account, illegal operation of foreign account and dubious allocation of fuel importation for subsidy payment and now the revelation in the audit report alleging improper loans running into hundreds of million of dollar. “If there are no vested interests, the Minister should have been shown the way out of the ministry. With all these revelations from the probes and the audit report, there is no justification for keeping the Minister in office. “Also, if you look at the NNPC board membership, you will see that nothing has changed and no difference would be made to the operations of the Corporation. Imaging the husband of one of the Minister’s Special Advisers is a member of the board, the entire board revolves round same clique that has not made Nigerians to benefit from the effective and efficient functioning of the Corporation”, he stated. Ezugwu noted that it would be preposterous to appoint the Petroleum Minister to head a board that should moderate the activities of a corporate under her Ministry, “what that means is that she is the all in all as far as NNPC activities are concerned. This is certainly not in the national interest.” The CNPP boss therefore called on President Goodluck Jonathan to do the needful by putting the national interest above any other parochial one and disband the board and reconstitute it with Nigerians of impeccable character. “Using the NNPC board membership for political patronage would not the nation any good. And it is high time the President move against the cabal in the oil industry so that the Nigeria will not go back to square one. “Already, we have heard that the Presidency lacks the gut to try all those indicted in the House of Representatives subsidy probe Panel, and the situation on ground is gradually pointing to that direction. It will be the greatest disservice to the nation if all the subsidy thieves are allowed to go scot free after stealing billions of Naira while Nigerians are finding it increasingly hard everyday to make ends meet.”
The
CNPP Secretary General warned that the Conference would consult with other
civil society groups including the Anti-Corruption Network to mount campaign
for the removal of the petroleum minister just it would also and consult the
anti-corruption agencies for probe of her roles in the various shaddy deals
uncovered in the NNPC and her ministry.
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Tuesday, July 17, 2012
NNPC BOARD: CNPP FAULTS DEZIANI’S APPOINTMENT, SEEKS BOARD DISSOLUTION
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