Ribadu submits Petroleum Sector report, trade words with Orosanye

Ribadu, Orosanye trade words over Petroleum sector report before Jonathan

The Chairman Committee on Petroleum Revenue Task Force, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu on Friday, November, 2012 submited the report of his committee to President Goodluck Jonathan.

At the event in Abuja, Mallam Ribadu joined issues with his Deputy, Mr Steve Orosanye, with the former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, (Orosanye) alleging that the report was fraught with flawed figures.
Mallam Ribadu accused the former Head of Service of abandoning the committee and also got himself appointed on to the board of Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) whilst the committee was investigating the corporation and others companies in the oil sector.

According to the former chairman of the Economic Crimes Commission (EFCC), “Steve Orosanye never participated one day in the deliberations of this committee.” “Not even a single day. Ne never” he emphasised, adding that “the first time we saw Steve was at the end of the work when we were talking about recoveries from companies that he jumped in and he got in. All the members (of the committee) are here, they can bare witness to what I have said.”
 
Another member of the committee who equally picked holes with the report, Mr Bernard Oti, was also said to have secured an appointment as NNPC’s Director of Finance while the committee’s investigation lasted.
An emotional lade Ribadu told the President Jonathan that “this recommendation is for you to use. It is your work. You thought it wise to bring people from outside to help you look at the industry critically and give an honest opinion.”
 
OROSANYE
The former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Steve Orosanye urged the President not to accept the report on grounds that the figures in the draft report were “unreconciled figures” and that institutions responsible for the figures, such as the Department of Petroluem Resources, (DPR) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service, (FIRS) were not consulted.

Mr Orosanye also alleged that the report was hurriedly prepared and was never presented to the committee before hand as agreed upon.

PRESIENT JONATHAN
In a remark, President Goodluck Jonathan assured that despite the rancour between members of the committee, his administration will study  the report and prosecute any one found to have illegally benefitted from the nation’s oil wealth.

President Jonathan stressed that Nigeria needs to better its oil industry because, many African countries on the shorelines are now discovering crude and if we fail to act, investors will channel their money to these countries.

BACKGROUND

The Nuhu Ribadu led Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force was appointed in February 2012 and was given 60 days deadline to submit its report, which is expected to instil accountability in the nation`s petroleum sector.
But ahead of the deadline, the Committee`s 146 page report which was ready early in the week, was reportedly leaked to Reuters News agency, detailing that the nation loses out on $29 billion on cut-price gas deals from the year 2002 to the present.
However, the former EFCC Chairman, told journalists after submitting the report that there is no difference between what has been submitted and what has been in circulation.
Mallam Ribadu insisted that one cannot fault the possibility of a leakage in a project where so many people are involved.
Also speaking, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Deziani Allison-Madueke, urged Nigerians not to lose focus on the objective behind the reports, saying that there was no  misunderstanding between her and the former EFCC chairman and that she did not in any way interfere with the work of the task force.

Mr Ribadu has since posted on his social media platforms that “no matter the pressure, don’t compromise, stand for the truth and with people of integrity.”